U.S. Seafood Processor Mark Foods Combines with Arista Industries Seafood Division

Sept. 14, 2023

Combined company will continue under the Mark Foods banner and is expected to sell approximately 100 million pounds of seafood annually.

Andy Hanacek

Mark Foods, a U.S. processor of more than 12 million pounds of value-added seafood offerings for retailers, chain restaurants and distributor accounts, and Arista Industries’ Seafood Division, have agreed to combine under the Mark Foods banner, according to a release from Mark Foods.

Arista’s seafood business will give Mark Foods a boost in distribution, as the division has recorded more than 50 million pounds of frozen seafood sales annually, focused on its partnerships in the foodservice sector. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The new Mark Foods will sell approximately 100 million pounds of seafood and generate annual revenue exceeding $800 million, according to the release. It will focus its efforts on Chilean sea bass, farm-raised and wild-caught shrimp, New Zealand mussels, lobster, pasteurized crab, Spanish octopus and other seafood products. Arista Industries president, general manager and entire seafood team will join Mark Foods in the transaction, doubling the company’s employee base to more than 50 people.

Arista Industries’ specialty oils business is not part of the transaction, and the release noted that there will be no changes to the ownership or personnel. The oils business will carry on under the Arista Industries Inc. banner.

The transaction is the latest in a line of growth initiatives undertaken by Mark Foods, which was founded in 2002. In 2019, it partnered with suppliers to build the Openwater Seafoods processing facility in Orlando, Fla., which is reported by the company to be the leading Chilean sea bass processing facility globally. Additionally, Mark Foods acquired a significant interest in Endeavor Seafoods in 2021. Arista Industries, for its part, had acquired Penguin Frozen Foods — a domestic distributor of gulf domestic shrimp — in 2021 as well.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.