Sean O'Scannlain

Sean J. O’Scannlain founded Fortune International in Bensenville, Illinois in 2001. Since its inception, Fortune has grown into the Nation’s leader in premium quality seafood, specialty meats, and gourmet products. Today, Fortune International employs over 1,500 Team Members and is the parent company of Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Chef Martin, Coastal Seafoods, D’Artagnan, Lobster Gram, and Boston Sword & Tuna. Prior to opening his own company, O’Scannlain was the President of The Plitt Company from 1995-2001, and Executive Vice President of Chicago Fish House from 1992-1995.

O’Scannlain is a well-respected leader in the seafood industry, and he is a past Chairman of the National Seafood Association (NSA), the seafood industry’s national trade association, and he is active in FishPAC, the NSA’s political action committee, which directs political contributions and activities on behalf of the seafood community. In addition, O’Scannlain is Chairman of the Seafood Industry Research Fund (SIRF), a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that awards grants to individuals and institutions to conduct forward-thinking research that will advance the seafood industry.

He is a founding member of Sea Pact, a group of like-minded seafood companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain. O’Scannlain is very active in his local community, sitting on the Boards of Directors of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School and Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago. Fortune International makes weekly donations to local food banks and supports several charity events yearly with monetary and product donations. Through his volunteerism and dedication, O’Scannlain sets a strong example to his Team Members by consistently giving back to their industry and the local community.

In addition to the NSA and Sea Pact, Fortune International is a member of the Seafood Choices Alliance, the Chef’s Collaborative, the Global Aquaculture Alliance, the American Cheese Society, the Specialty Food Association, and has been Marine Stewardship Council chain of custody certified since August of 2008. During his career, O’Scannlain has shown his dedication as an agent of change within the food industry by advocating for sustainable food production and growing domestic aquaculture based on sound public policy and ground truth science.

O’Scannlain grew up in Portland, Oregon and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. O’Scannlain and his wife Jennifer have five children and reside in the City of Chicago.