THUNDER BAY - The co-founders of a new business in Thunder Bay hope to convince more consumers to put whitefish, lake trout and walleye from northwestern Ontario lakes on their dinner tables.
Brent Forsyth and Jordan Shannon recently opened Canadian Freshwater Fish on Simpson Street.
The business processes and sells both fresh and frozen fish, with bone-in and bone-out varieties.
Shannon says they started it up because they felt there was a gap in the marketplace.
"We saw the void and we saw the need. There's a big demand for Canadian freshwater fish, so we thought it was a great opportunity and decided to go for it."
It's taken awhile for them to understand customers' preferences.
"It's been a little bit of a challenge figuring out exactly what consumers want, and we're still figuring that out. We're getting there," Forsyth said.
"Whitefish and lake trout, they're the big species in Lake Superior. Such a high-quality product. Locally, whitefish doesn't seem to have such a huge following. We're going to try to change that," he added, describing it as delicious, healthy and similar to walleye with its mild taste.
So far, the two men said, the response in the community has been more than encouraging.
"It's been overwhelming. Very positive...Lots of emails and congrats and people stopping by. It's been really rewarding for all the hard work we've put in the last couple of months here," Forsyth said.
For the moment, their supplier is a commercial fishing operator on Lake Superior, but the duo hopes to sell other fish species and develop more sources including First Nations. Eventually, they foresee obtaining fish from Lake Nipigon, Lake of the Woods and lakes in the Dryden area.
Future steps also include marketing their products online to customers across Canada.
Forsyth said they want to build on the momentum they've established and take advantage of the growing demand for locally-produced food.
"It's a great scene here in Thunder Bay. We've got a really cool thing going. We just want to be a part of it."
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