The ISH Company launches plant-based seafood to US food-service companies with Dot Foods

The ISH Company, a startup disrupting the food industry with healthy and sustainable plant-based seafood alternatives, has entered a strategic, non-exclusive distribution agreement with Dot Foods, the largest food industry redistributor in North America. The agreement enables ISH to expand its distribution across the continental USA and provide food-service companies with access to its plant-based seafood products.

ISH currently offers its products in select restaurants and campus dining halls, including Harvard and Amherst. Through Dot Foods’ distribution ecosystem, ISH will increase availability of these products, providing food-service companies nationwide with healthy, sustainable options to delight customers.

“At ISH, we’re on a mission to put plant-based seafood on plates worldwide, empowering people to make choices that are healthier for their body, but also better for our planet,” said Christie Fleming, President & Chief Operating Officer at The ISH Company. “By distributing our plant-based seafood products with Dot Foods, we’re making strides in that mission and working toward a future where every restaurant and food retailer provides plant-based seafood options. We look forward to integrating new products with Dot Foods as we continue to innovate in the plant-based food industry.”

The ISH Company’s Whole System Approach fills a large gap in the plant-based market by using healthy, natural, and sustainable ingredients to create delicious products that mimic the texture and flavor of seafood products, which other brands struggle to imitate. The company’s products offer consumers an opportunity to make dietary choices that decrease carbon emissions, without sacrificing taste or nutrition. Looking at shrimp alone, when a food-service company purchases 360 lbs of Shrimpish instead of shrimp, it is the equivalent of taking one car off the road for an entire year. Shrimp is the most popular seafood item in the USA and causes four times more greenhouse gas emissions than beef, underscoring the need for wide availability of ISH’s plant-based shrimp products.

“Today’s consumers expect innovative, sustainable products at their fingertips whenever they walk into a food establishment or engage with a food retailer,” said Park Plank, Director of Business Development at Dot Foods. “By making The ISH Company products available to our expansive network of food-service distributors, we’re ensuring operators can delight consumers with unique, delicious, and environmentally-friendly shrimp alternatives. Dot values innovation so much that it is a part of our brand promise, and we’re proud to play a role in the ISH journey as it continues to pave the way for innovation in the plant-based food industry and meet the high demand for plant-based seafood options.”

The announcement follows The ISH Company’s US$5 million seed funding round in January, which brought total funds raised to nearly US$10 million. In addition to expanding the company’s distribution network, funds are being used to build upon ISH’s robust product portfolio with more than 25 products in development, including crab, lobster and cod alternatives.