Tropical Aquaculture Products, Inc.
Tropical Aquaculture Products was founded by John Schramm in 1995 with
just one employee — John. Having grown up on the seacoast of Maine
where he watched firsthand the decimation of the seafood industry, John
realized that one of the key challenges facing the seafood industry was
the ability to source high quality fish. Focusing on at that time a
relatively unknown fish to North American families, Tropical
Aquaculture Products looked to tilapia as an environmentally
sustainable, nutritious, great tasting, and chemical-free fish that
could be harvested in abundance and delivered quickly.
With nearly 40% of the market, today, Tropical Aquaculture is the
industry leader and innovator in the delivery of fresh tilapia
throughout the United States and Canada. With partner farms in Ecuador, Costa
Rica, Colombia, and Brazil, Tropical’s logistics operations have
changed the face of fish delivery by delivering fresh (never frozen!)
tilapia to the market within 24 hours of harvest. While most tilapia is flown into Miami and then shipped to its destination in the US, Tropical’s is flown to Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Boston, or Maryland, making it the freshest tilapia
available in the market.
In just a few years, Americans’ annual consumption of tilapia has
quadrupled, from a quarter-pound per person in 2003 to a full pound in
2006. It now ranks as the 5th most-consumed seafood in the nation.
Considering the explosion of the tilapia market, it’s not surprising
that the industry has become very competitive. But what’s very
important to remember is that not all tilapia are created equal. The
taste and overall quality comes from the care and expertise of the
people who raise and process the fish. Tropical Aquaculture is known
for its premium quality. Tropical is a vertically integrated company
which allows for stringent quality control from the feed mills all the
way through to distribution. Tropical also imports farm-raised rainbow
trout from Panama and shrimp from Ecuador.
Tropical has offices in Vermont and the most recent addition – Luxembourg. Tropical Aquaculture Europe was formed in 2006.