What began as a side gig in 2024 has grown into a full-fledged online direct to customer seafood distribution company serving Canadians across the country.
Larry’s Catch was started in the spring of 2024 by Nova Scotia native Glen Creaser and two partners. Named after his father Larry Creaser, a groundfish fisherman from Lunenburg County, the company has been growing quite significantly, said Glen Creaser.
“We’ve seen nearly 50 per cent growth month over month since January really. We launched Ontario- wide in March. Shortly after that, we launched to Canada-wide deliveries in August, expanding our reach to service as many Canadians as we possible can. It’s been received very well in Ontario and across the country now.”
Everything Larry’s Catch sells is wild caught, sustainably sourced Canadian seafood, which is individually quick frozen (IQF) to preserve freshness and quality.
“We guarantee it arrives at your door frozen. We use dry ice in our boxes with a recyclable thermal liner and that’s how we get it to peoples’ houses completely frozen even after three days in transit.”
Creaser said Larry’s Catch has been able to partner with another company that is also doing frozen delivery who have been able to really help streamline their shipping process.
“One of the things that folks have been leery about is fresh is better than frozen. To be honest if you are in Ontario or anywhere inland, you’re going to want to get frozen seafood. It takes a long time to get here. Most of the stuff in Ontario is frozen then thawed to display for the point of sale and what that ends up doing, that hurts the quality even more and then people are in a rush to eat it and they end up with waste,” said Creaser.
“I’m really happy to have frozen seafood at home, especially IQF frozen because it’s much higher quality. It’s actually five to six times less likely to go to waste if it’s frozen. It won’t go bad,” said Creaser. “What we’re really trying to push is support for frozen seafood because with today’s technology, it really is the better seafood most of the time.”
Initially, Larry’s Catch was sourcing wild caught sustainable seafood from Nova Scotia, but over time expanded their reach to Canada’s other two coasts to find suppliers.
Creaser said both his father Larry and brother Mark, who is carrying on the family fishing tradition on the water, are very well connected in the industry and have “really helped me with finding the suppliers that really fit our business and what we’re looking for, what our customers like. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to lean on them to find the best products available, especially on the Atlantic coast.”
Creaser said Larry’s Catch is looking to expand their product offerings as much as possible.
“Everything is wild caught in Canada. Value-added stuff as well, ready to cook, all prepared. That’s what you can expect coming down the pipeline shortly. In addition to that we will be on Dragon’s Den in the fall. I don’t have a date yet but the pitch has been done and filmed. Now we’re just waiting on that to be aired this fall.”
Halibut, Atlantic scallops, black cod from B.C., Atlantic haddock, sockeye salmon, cooked lobster meat, wild pickerel, bacon wrapped scallops, cod fish cakes, breaded haddock, chowder mix, jumbo shrimp, smoked sockeye salmon, turbot, albacore tuna and cold smoked haddock are among the seafood offerings available to order online through Larry’s Catch.
