Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerardo Arche and John Kim.
Gerardo and John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We started our company while we were MBA Students at The University of Chicago. We went through various entrepreneurship programs, such as the Summer Accelerator and the New Venture Challenge. We saw a need for a product that we love, smoked salmon, and we tried to innovate in this market.
It took us over two years to get our product and company ready for launch, specifically in areas such as product fit, marketing strategy and financial planning. – Gerardo
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t! Chicago has one of the best food scenes in the US and is a very competitive market. As a new company in a new market, we had to build our network from the ground up. Every day, John and I reached out and met numerous people in the industry to expand our network. Because of limited human resource and time, it took awhile to build our network.
Fortunately, people who took their time to see us appreciated our innovative products and connected with other people in the industry. As we grow, we want to continue to expand our network and meet more people in the industry. – John
Please tell us about Sealoch Smoked Salmon.
We specialize in selling the most delicious smoked salmon, smoked tuna, and other seafood products to shoppers who want to eat healthy! We proud ourselves for providing gourmet seafood items with the highest quality.
Our products are sourced from sustainable sources and do not contain preservatives. Also, we are the only smoked salmon company run by young professionals with high energy and passion. It is not every day you see two young professionals selling seafood products, so our clients are surprised when they meet us. – Gerardo
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We have made some mistakes, such as bringing products with a higher price point and in a larger package than the market would accept. If I can start over, I would focus on optimizing the right product configuration from the very start. But overall, we are hitting all of our milestones and we are doing better than we thought we would. – John
Pricing:
- Hand-sliced Smoked Salmon with Dill & Mustard sauce (Available at Mariano’s: $7.99)
- Smoked Tuna (Available at Mariano’s: $7.99)
- Smoked Salmon in Olive Oil (Available at Mariano’s: $8.99)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sealoch.net
- Phone: 3128871344
- Email: gerardo.arche@sealoch.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sealochbrandfoods
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sealochbrandfoods
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
