Gorton's
Gorton's is a 175-year-old U.S. frozen seafood manufacturer producing breaded fish, shrimp, and crab products for retail grocery, foodservice (including McDonald's), and DTC merchandise channels from its Gloucester, Massachusetts facility.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1849
- HeadquartersGloucester, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Gorton's does
Gorton's, Inc. is a privately held U.S. frozen seafood manufacturer founded in 1849 and headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The company produces a portfolio of breaded, battered, and sauced frozen seafood — anchored by Alaskan Pollock fish sticks and fillets, shrimp varieties (popcorn, butterfly, beer-battered, coconut, scampi), crab cakes, cod, haddock, and recently introduced taco-flavored tenders — sold under the Gorton's Seafood brand primarily through mainstream U.S. retail grocery stores and supermarkets.
The company's underlying technology centers on frozen-seafood processing: proprietary flash-freezing at peak freshness, signature breading and batter systems including a reduced-fat air-fried coating, and a responsible-sourcing program branded as Trusted Catch that spans multiple sustainability pillars. Manufacturing is concentrated at the Gloucester facility, represented by UFCW Local 1445, with approximately 240 production workers dedicated in part to foodservice volume for McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwiches on the East Coast.
Gorton's commercial model is a hybrid CPG-plus-foodservice-plus-merchandise structure. The dominant revenue stream is one-time retail purchase of frozen seafood SKUs through grocery channel distribution. A secondary but material enterprise stream comes from QSR and foodservice supply, notably McDonald's. A smaller direct-to-consumer merchandise channel sells branded apparel and home goods through gortons.com/shop, leveraging brand equity rather than core food manufacturing. Marketing is executed through the company's owned recipe website and blog, multi-platform organic social (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube), food-influencer partnerships, and retail point-of-sale positioning.
Gorton's firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gorton's
- Legal name
- Gorton's, Inc.
- Website
- https://gortons.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1849
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Gorton's is a 175-year-old U.S. frozen seafood manufacturer producing breaded fish, shrimp, and crab products for retail grocery, foodservice (including McDonald's), and DTC merchandise channels from its Gloucester, Massachusetts facility.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Gorton's industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Frozen Seafood
- NAICS
- Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (31171), Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing (311412)
- SIC
- Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092), Food And Kindred Products (2000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Frozen Seafood Meals & Value-Added Seafood (CRADADAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Manufacturing (AFAKACAG), Refrigerated Meat & Seafood (Processed/Packaged) (CRADACAK), Seafood Meal Kits & Heat-and-Eat Entrées (Prepared Meals Featuring Seafood) (AFANALAH), Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Wholesale (AFAIAHAF)
Keywords
Where Gorton's is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Gloucester
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Gorton's business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Frozen Seafood Products: Sale of consumer packaged frozen seafood products including fish sticks, fillets, shrimp varieties, and crab cakes through retail grocery channels and direct e-commerce for merchandise.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Gorton's product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Gorton's manufactures and sells frozen seafood products, including fish sticks, breaded fish fillets, shrimp varieties, crab cakes, and salmon burgers. Products are made primarily from wild-caught Alaskan Pollock, cod, haddock, shrimp, and crab, flash-frozen at peak freshness for consumer home preparation. The company also supplies foodservice operators such as McDonald's for the East Coast Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
Product overview
Gorton's Seafood is a frozen seafood company founded in 1849, headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, offering a diverse portfolio of frozen fish and shrimp products. The product line centers around breaded fish fillets (including Crispy Battered, Beer Battered, Crunchy Breaded, Air Fried, and Fish Sandwich Fillets), fish sticks, and shrimp products (Popcorn Shrimp, Butterfly Shrimp, Beer Batter Shrimp, Double Crunch Shrimp, Coconut Shrimp, and Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi). The company also produces Crab Cakes, Pub Style Cod, Panko Breaded Haddock, and new Taco Tenders. Products are primarily made with wild-caught Alaskan Pollock, shrimp, crab, cod, and haddock, and are sold frozen for retail consumer preparation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Gorton's Fish Sticks Breaded, frozen fish sticks made from wild-caught Alaskan Pollock, designed for quick oven, microwave, or air-fryer preparation at home by family consumers.
- Gorton's Breaded Fish Fillets Breaded and battered frozen fish fillets made from wild-caught Alaskan Pollock, cod, and haddock, designed for convenient at-home cooking.
- Gorton's Shrimp Products Prepared, breaded, and battered frozen shrimp varieties (Popcorn Shrimp, Crispy Shrimp, Butterfly Shrimp) for quick home preparation by consumers.
- Gorton's Crab Cakes Frozen prepared crab cakes made with wild-caught crab meat, intended for retail consumer at-home preparation.
- Gorton's Salmon Burgers Frozen salmon burgers sold through retail grocery for at-home preparation by consumers.
- Gorton's Tilapia Frozen tilapia fillets sold through retail grocery channels for at-home preparation.
Companies that use Gorton's
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Gorton's technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Gorton's partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Gorton's competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Birds Eye: Owned by Conagra Brands, Birds Eye is one of the largest U.S. frozen seafood and vegetable brands. Directly competes with Gorton's for frozen seafood shelf space in mainstream grocery and shares similar retail channels and target consumers.
- SeaPak: U.S. frozen shrimp and seafood brand with comparable breaded/battered product format. Competes head-to-head in the frozen seafood aisle and shares the same retail grocery distribution model.
- Trident Seafoods: Vertically integrated U.S. seafood company producing frozen breaded fish products and supplying major QSR chains. Directly comparable in foodservice scale and frozen retail seafood portfolio.
- Highliner Foods: North American frozen seafood manufacturer and brand operator with strong retail private-label and branded business. Closely comparable in product format, channel mix, and customer base.
- Mrs. Paul's / Van de Kamp's: Conagra-owned frozen seafood brands covering fish sticks, fillets, and prepared seafood. Direct shelf competitors with overlapping product formats and identical retail distribution.
- Icelandic Group: Vertically integrated frozen seafood company with strong North American presence. Comparable in species mix, processing capabilities, and foodservice/retail split.
Broad incumbents
- Conagra Brands: Diversified packaged foods major whose portfolio includes Birds Eye and Mrs. Paul's frozen seafood. Broad incumbent competitor with significantly wider product breadth and retailer leverage.
- McCain Foods: Global frozen food giant with growing frozen seafood and QSR supply presence. Broad incumbent competing for the same retail frozen and foodservice contracts as Gorton's.
- Tyson Foods: Diversified protein manufacturer with frozen prepared foods and foodservice supply capabilities. Broad incumbent that competes for QSR volume and frozen retail protein share.
Others
- Sysco: Largest U.S. foodservice distributor. While not a direct competitor, Sysco is a key distribution intermediary to restaurant customers in the same QSR/foodservice channel where Gorton's operates.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Gorton's social profiles
Digital presenceGorton's financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gorton's leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Gorton's funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gorton's M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gorton's
What does Gorton's do?
Gorton's manufactures and sells frozen seafood products, including fish sticks, breaded fish fillets, shrimp varieties, crab cakes, and salmon burgers. Products are made primarily from wild-caught Alaskan Pollock, cod, haddock, shrimp, and crab, flash-frozen at peak freshness for consumer home preparation. The company also supplies foodservice operators such as McDonald's for the East Coast Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
Is Gorton's a public or private company?
Gorton's is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Gorton's founded?
Gorton's was founded in 1849. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Gorton's based?
Gorton's is headquartered in Gloucester, United States, in the North America region.
How does Gorton's make money?
One revenue line is on record: frozen Seafood Products.
Who are Gorton's's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Birds Eye, SeaPak, Trident Seafoods, Highliner Foods, Mrs. Paul's / Van de Kamp's and Icelandic Group. Broad incumbents are Conagra Brands, McCain Foods and Tyson Foods. Sysco is listed as an others.
Does Gorton's have an API?
No public API is recorded for Gorton's.
What industry is Gorton's in?
Gorton's's product category is Frozen Seafood. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRADADAG, Frozen Seafood Meals & Value-Added Seafood, with a secondary code of AFAKACAG, Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Manufacturing. Its NAICS code is 31171 and its SIC code is 2092.