Cooke

What Cooke does

Cooke Inc. is a privately held Canadian integrated seafood company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick. With 10,000+ employees and operating geographies spanning Canada, the United States, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Peru, and Australia, Cooke generates revenue through three integrated activities: aquaculture production (primarily Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout), wild-caught seafood harvesting, and seafood processing and distribution to retail, foodservice, and pet food customers. The company controls a multi-brand portfolio including Cooke Aquaculture, Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd., Slade Gorton, Morubel, Copeinca, and the pending Avramar Seafood acquisition, with vertical integration spanning fishmeal and fish oil inputs (Omega Protein, Copeinca) through to downstream distribution.

Cooke's technology stack centers on AI-augmented salmon farming. Specific applications include AI feed optimization to improve feed conversion ratios and reduce waste, AI-driven biomass estimation for inventory and growth monitoring, AI parasite detection systems targeting sea lice, AI-based environmental monitoring for water quality and algae, and smart-farming cages equipped with sensors, robotics, and AI-driven systems deployed in offshore operations such as Kelly Cove Salmon's Liverpool Bay site. Video monitoring systems are also used at hatcheries for operational oversight.

The business model is B2B-driven: seafood is sold through direct sales from owned farms and processing facilities and through acquired distribution networks (Slade Gorton in North America, Morubel in Europe) on quote-based negotiation rather than published pricing. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales, channel partner distribution via acquired infrastructure, and direct-to-consumer reach via Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. Marketing is anchored in industry trade events, including Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Expo North America. Growth has been financed almost entirely through acquisition and operating cash flow, with the family-controlled company disclosing only a single $7 million grant from Canada's Ocean Supercluster in 2023 and no external venture or institutional funding rounds.

Name

Cooke

Legal name

Cooke Inc.

Website

https://cookeseafood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Cooke Inc. is a privately held Canadian integrated seafood company operating aquaculture (salmon, trout), seafood processing, and global distribution across North America, Europe, South America, and Oceania, serving retail, foodservice, and pet food buyers through owned farms and acquired brands such as Slade Gorton, Morubel, and Copeinca.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Aquaculture

NAICS

Aquaculture (1125), Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (3117), Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers (424460)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092), Food And Kindred Products (2000), Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150)

akta.pro primary industry

Aquaculture Harvest, Processing & Packing (Farmed Finfish/Shellfish; On-Farm Plants) (AFANADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Meat, Poultry & Seafood Wholesale (AFAIABAF), Primary Seafood Processing (Heading/Gutting/Deheading; Icing) (AFANADAA), Meat, Poultry & Seafood Distribution (CRAOABAC)

Keywords

• Salmon aquaculture
• Seafood processing
• Seafood distribution
• Fish farming
• Aquaculture production

Headquarters

HQ city

Bathurst

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Seafood Production and Distribution: Cooke generates revenue through aquaculture salmon farming, wild-caught seafood harvesting, and distribution of seafood products to retail and foodservice customers globally

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cooke operates as an integrated seafood company engaged in salmon aquaculture farming, wild-caught seafood harvesting, shrimp processing, and seafood distribution. The company controls the full value chain from catch quotas and aquaculture farms through processing infrastructure to retail and foodservice customers across North America and Europe. Its portfolio includes Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, shrimp, and other seafood products sold through owned subsidiaries including Kelly Cove Salmon, Slade Gorton, and Morubel.

Product overview

Cooke operates as an integrated seafood company with a multi-brand portfolio spanning aquaculture production, processing, and distribution. The core business centers on Cooke Aquaculture's salmon farming operations, supplemented by acquired brands including Slade Gorton (seafood distribution in North America), Morubel (shrimp processing in Europe), and Kelly Cove Salmon (subsidiary for salmon farm operations). The company is expanding through the acquisition of Avramar Seafood in Spain/Greece. Products include Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, shrimp, and diverse seafood products across retail, foodservice, and industrial channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cooke Aquaculture (Atlantic Salmon)
• Rainbow Trout Products
• Slade Gorton Seafood Distribution
• Morubel Shrimp Processing
• Kelly Cove Salmon Farm Operations

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Avramar Seafood SLcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2026Cooke acquired 100% of Spanish-based Avramar Seafood SL, which controls Greek subsidiaries. This acquisition influences decisions of Greek creditor banks regarding Avramar Greece, the largest fish farming company in Greece. The deal represents Cooke's expansion into the Mediterranean aquaculture market.
• Slade GortoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 15 March 2023Cooke Aquaculture entered a purchase agreement to acquire American seafood importer, manufacturer, and distributor Slade Gorton. The acquisition leverages Slade Gorton's long-standing sector expertise and extensive product range to strengthen Cooke's market presence in North America.
• Morubel N.V.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 9 August 2022Cooke acquired Belgian shrimp processing company Morubel N.V. from Bencis Capital Partners. The acquisition includes Morubel's infrastructure, products, and employees, aiming to expand Cooke's presence in Europe through established shrimp processing capabilities.
• Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKelly Cove Salmon Ltd. is a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture Inc. operating salmon farms in Nova Scotia, including expansion plans for Liverpool Bay salmon farm AQ#1205 with new smart-farming technology.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mowi ASA: Mowi is the world's largest Atlantic salmon producer, headquartered in Norway with farming, processing, and sales operations globally. It is Cooke's most direct competitor in vertically integrated salmon aquaculture and is the benchmark for global salmon supply.
• Lerøy Seafood Group: Lerøy is a Norwegian seafood group with salmon farming, wild catch, processing, and distribution. It is a close analogue to Cooke's vertical structure across salmon, value-added processing, and downstream sales.
• SalMar ASA: SalMar is one of the largest Norwegian salmon farming companies with a strong focus on offshore and smolt technology. It competes directly with Cooke in Atlantic salmon farming and shares similar investments in offshore and smart-farming techniques.
• Bakkafrost P/F: Bakkafrost is a vertically integrated Faroese salmon farmer with its own processing, feed, and smolt operations. It mirrors Cooke's vertical integration model in salmon and is benchmarked alongside Mowi and SalMar for industry comparables.
• Cermaq Group AS: Cermaq (owned by Mitsubishi) farms Atlantic salmon and trout in Norway, Chile, and Canada, making it a direct geographic and product-line competitor to Cooke, particularly in BC and Chilean salmon markets.

Broad incumbents

• Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF): CPF is one of the world's largest aquaculture and feed conglomerates, primarily in shrimp and warmwater species. It is comparable to Cooke in integrated farming-plus-feed but competes more in Asia and tropical species rather than cold-water salmon.
• Maruha Nichiro: Maruha Nichiro is one of Japan's largest seafood companies, with global salmon, surimi, and processed seafood operations. It operates as a broad incumbent in the same seafood category and competes for retail and foodservice seafood contracts.
• Thai Union Group: Thai Union is a global seafood processor and brand owner (Chicken of the Sea, King Oscar). It is comparable to Cooke in scale and downstream distribution via Slade Gorton-style channels but focuses on tuna and shelf-stable seafood.

Emerging players

• Stolt-Nielsen Limited: Stolt-Nielsen owns Stolt Sea Farm, one of the largest producers of turbot, sole, and kingfish. It overlaps with Cooke's Avramar Mediterranean ambitions (sea bass/bream) and shares the land-based plus sea-based aquaculture profile.
• AquaBounty Technologies: AquaBounty is a smaller, technology-focused aquaculture company pioneering land-based GM salmon. It overlaps with Cooke on salmon farming and shares the AI/biotech orientation but operates at much smaller scale and in a different production paradigm.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cookeseafood

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cooke