Venture capitalist and entrepreneur expert Daniel Isenberg tells the story of Michael Dimin, who, on a family vacation, went out fishing with a varitety of local fishermen off the coast of Tobago. The local fisherman semed to have one big problem. The market was glutted. If you did not sell your fish by noon, you had to dump it as worthless.

Dimin wondered: How could we take this marvelous fresh fish, ready to be thrown away and get it to some of the world’s great chefs.

The chefs were eager to buy. “Amazingly fresh fish” was what they wanted for their customers.

The local fishermen took two years to bring around. They thought their might be a catch in the plan. They didn’t want to ice their fish, and they could not believe the price they would get wasn’t fishy, but finally they came around.

The Dimins delivered ice to the fishermen. They built a local facility to place the fish in special boxes with ice packs. Sean and Michael Dimin negotiated with airlines to get the fish shipped to New York and then had a truck deliver the ‘amazingly fresh’ fish ordered by chefs to restaurants. Eventually the Dimons built up enough credibility and volume on the island to turn the processing plant over to locals.

This venture was financed on savings. But it involved, as these efforts so often do, working 24/7.

The Dimons expanded their concept to other fishing areas, lik Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. They also developed the concept of local,

The Dimins work with goernemnt and non overnment agencies to suppor sustainable fishing.Thy shun large fleets,

What the Dimins have done is maximize flexibility. Taking excess at the source, icing it, shipping it to the customer who would be most appreciative and play the most, a high end chef.

A vacation trip inspired an idea that a family transformed into a business. With apparently modest savings, but much grit and determination they brought together wonderful local food, modoern packing and shipping techniques and an appreciative market.  Sea2Table