When Guy Furman formed Marvesta Shrimp in 2003 with two high school classmates, they found themselves breaking ground on both the facilities and technologies necessary to establish Dorchester’s first shrimp farm. With nine years experience — and many lessons learned along the way – Furman, with a newly minted MBA in hand, returned to Marvesta this past fall ready to retool and revive the Hurlock-based aquaculture business.
Furman explained his recent decision to switch Marvesta’s business model from selling shrimp directly to consumers to one selling almost exclusively to a regional wholesale distributor, saying, “While I will always be grateful to the many local restaurants who bought and served our seafood, we realize now that we are better able to serve our customers by concentrating on the farming operation necessary to produce fresh, delicious and sustainable shrimp.” As a small operation, Furman felt that Marvesta didn’t have the critical mass nor staff necessary to manage a direct to consumer supply chain profitably.
Producing all natural, organic shrimp raised in above ground saline pools is still a relatively new industry and presents technological challenges that requires hands-on leadership and daily oversight. Marvesta’s long-time employee, full-time Operations Manager and Dorchester resident Joe Melton, supervises a crew of four employees. For information about Marvesta email operations@marvesta.com