Company

Acari

United States of America

Acari Fish was born in May 2016 immediately after CEO Mike Mitchell finished his Fulbright fellowship studying small scale fish farming in Tabasco Mexico. During the fellowship he had discovered that the true problem in rural fishing communities had nothing to do with fish farming but rather the much reviled 'devil fish' as local fishermen called it. After asking around the local university and researching online Mike realized that the 'devil fish' was actually the plecostomus or 'armored catfish' a common fish in household aquariums known for its voracious algae appetite. Based on well known success stories where producers gave formerly discarded species like the orange roughy and Chilean sea bass makeovers Mike asked Why can't we do the same with this fish? And that's exactly what Acari has done since 2016 through a series of workshops presentations and tasting events Acari has worked to change the perception of the devilfish in Tabasco one mouthful at a time. The team has implemented its first 'module' in the community of Simon Sarlat to process the fish. Through partnerships with chefs around Mexico Acari began selling devil fish fillets in turn providing a new source of employment to local fishermen. In the summer of 2017 the Acari team began experimenting with fish jerky and started selling small batches of its El Diablito jerky in the United States in November 2017.

Other

United States of America

Capacity Building