Interview | For Captain Fresh, it’s an opportunity to double margins: CEO Utham Gowda

Seafood exporter Captain Fresh, which has a revenue of close to $800 million, has exposure of around 65% to the US market and has shifted most of the sourcing to Ecuador to tackle the impact of tariffs. Now, it is not just looking to bring that back to India but also have a much bigger footprint in Europe, including through a likely acquisition. The company’s founder and CEO Utham Gowda spoke to TOI.

Impact on tariff on business

Pre-tariffs, we used to source two-thirds of our products from India, Indonesia and Vietnam, which we flipped to Ecuador post-tariffs. We sacrificed our margins significantly because we do not have access to manufacturing capacities in Ecuador. In India, the margin is double.

Post-deal strategy

It was pre-agreed with our Indian suppliers with excess production capacities that we will restart manufacturing in their facilities as early as possible. We already operate one of the largest distribution infrastructure in the US and Europe for an Indian seafood company. We continue to double down on distribution with acquisitions lined up in Europe and the US adding ~$500 million to our revenue. The US trade deal gives us an opportunity to double our EBIDTA margin, given the demand there and in Europe.

Benefit of US deal

For us, the impact of the US tariff cut is not about shipment volumes. It is about margin expansion, driven by backward integration in India. With tariff clarity, we can move processing and value-added manufacturing for our brands back to India and capture more value domestically, rather than offshore. This is not about cost competitiveness, as we can source globally. It is about where value is created. Over time, this integration has the potential to significantly expand margins.