From humble beginnings to market leadership, it has been an exciting 40 years at Trans-Ocean Products. We look forward to continued success as we strive to make high quality seafood products while supporting our employees, our community and our environment.
Trans-Ocean Products built a small surimi seafood production facility in the Port of Bellingham with guidance from our parent company, Taiyou (Maruha Nichiro), of Tokyo Japan. We began operations with a small staff in September 1985.
In a location known for its fresh air and beautiful views, we also found a talented and committed group of employees, some of whom still work at TOP today.
Our largest customer in the early years was Jana Brands, a sales and marketing company based in Massachusetts. Trans-Ocean Products served as a contract manufacturer for Jana, producing surimi products for sandwich shops like Subway and many supermarket chains.
With sales increasing yearly, the need for a larger facility became clear. Working together with Bellingham Cold Storage, Trans-Ocean built a larger, modern surimi seafood processing facility on West Orchard Drive in Bellingham.
Recognizing the need to get closer to our customers and to create a leaner, more efficient cost structure, Trans-Ocean Products purchased the Jana Brands surimi business and created our own, internal sales and marketing operation.
Seeing an opportunity in the market for a better quality surimi seafood brand, we developed and introduced Crab Classic and started to get placements in supermarket chains across the USA.After years of growth, Trans-Ocean Products was proud to become the top-selling retail brand of surimi seafood in the USA.
As our sales grew nationally we increased our local workforce to keep up with demand. Our product line expanded with new varieties that customers eagerly added to their seafood department offerings.
After years of growth, Trans-Ocean Products was proud to become the top-selling retail brand of surimi seafood in the USA. Our early strategy had succeeded.
To attract new consumers to our brands, TOP sought and gained certification from the Marine Stewardship Council to highlight that Crab Classic is made with sustainably sourced fish. To promote our product’s healthy attributes we gained certification from the American Heart Association. These marks are of quality are proudly displayed on our packaging.
As the market leader, Trans-Ocean is always seeking to expand the surimi category with innovative new products. One of our biggest success stories was the introduction of Seafood Snackers, the first snack-sized single serving in the category.
Seeing another market and competitive opportunity, we decided to transition our Bellingham facility to be 100% gluten free. A year-long effort to remove all wheat containing ingredients led to our plant being certified by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.
As consumers started to seek more wholesome food options with fewer ingredients, we responded with a natural product line called Simply Surimi. It is made using only natural ingredients and is verified by the Non-GMO Project.
Wild Alaska Pollock has been our most important ingredient since the day we opened. When a group of Alaska fishing companies, including our sister company Westward Seafoods, formed an association to improve awareness of the fish’s quality, Trans-Ocean Products was proud to support the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers as a sponsor and in our marketing.
Through the global pandemic and in the years after, our business reached new levels, necessitating a plant expansion that will increase capacity by 30% when work is completed in late 2025.
We celebrate this milestone in our company’s history with thanks to our customers, our partners in the seafood industry, and, of course, our loyal employees. It’s been a team effort all the way and we are excited to write new chapters for TOP in the years ahead.
