Our Story

Our owner, Sang Phan, has been a trailblazer in the seafood industry.

He was born in An Giang, a province of Vietnam bordering Cambodia. Since he was young he has always been picky about food. But as a kid, he loved a traditional Vietnamese meal. There was nothing better than a bowl of white rice, caramelized Swai braised in a stone pot full of herbs, to eat on a rainy tropical day. Swai was a key ingredient in all his favorite dishes.

Growing up, his parents farmed these Vietnamese catfish to trade. Every summer he spent time on his parent’s farm and came to understand how the fish were farmed in floating pens on the Mekong River. The scenery at times was rather idyllic – farmers living on the water along with their fish.

During his high school and college years in America, he came to realize how much he missed the flavors of home. Small towns in Maine and Pennsylvania had little access to international cuisines in the 2000s and good fish was expensive. He missed the traditional meals and contemplated what an affordable and easy eat Swai was.

Every year, he looked forward to attending the North American Seafood Expo in Boston. This was and still is the largest trade show of seafood in North America. To this day, he can’t forget his first day, being in awe of the fresh seafood on display and the delicious samples. Among the jewels of seafood like the king crab, scallops, sturgeons and his favorite fish, Swai – which seemed small and insignificant. What did stand out, though, was its value and ease of cooking. Swai tastes great no matter the method – deep fry, pan fry, grill, bake, steam, etc. And the fish cost little compared to the high-end seafood while being a nutritious option.

During his college years, he also had the opportunity to visit the farms and factories of Vinh Hoan Corporation. His aunt, Madam Khanh Truong, started Vinh Hoan in 1997 and has been leading as its chairwoman. He saw firsthand how Swai began their lives as eggs, grew into larvae, became tiny fries, then moved as fingerlings to small ponds well controlled for various conditions. Once the fingerlings grew big enough, they were transferred to, not pens in the middle of the river, but large ponds well situated on the riverbank. This modernized method, in contrast to the pens, allows control of water quality, both incoming from the river and outgoing from the pond, to not only ensure optimal living conditions for the fish but also minimize environmental impacts of aqua farming. Most astonishingly, in the middle of rural South Vietnam lay a pristine, large-scale factory with technology and operations that met multiple strictest international standards. Thousands of workers worked rhythmically to fast process and freeze the fish while following food safety protocols. Each finished product was scrutinized for quality control before being packaged to begin its journey to the consumers. Who knew that the Swai he loved had so many touch points. Without the care and hard work by hundreds of people, the product couldn’t be of the highest quality possible.

It became clear to him that the US needed a fish in the market like Swai and Vinh Hoan had the perfect fish. The challenge was how to get it to and distribute throughout America. Although Swai goes through a similar journey as other imported products, it faces many barriers in legal and trade. In 2008 after graduating from college, Sang joined Vinh Hoan and helped build its first US office. To champion Swai, Coast Beacon was born with the focus on quality and commitment to bring the best product and the best service to customers. He built a team to navigate and establish a strong network of supply chain, regulatory clearance, logistics and transportation. Equally as important was finding and convincing people to give Swai a try. His first customers were Asian supermarkets and eateries. With persistence, Swai slowly but surely grew into the mainstream American market.

Coast Beacon believes that serving our customers well is equal to serving the consumers well. Our team in logistics and accounting work side by side with vendors throughout the supply chain to ensure smooth operation while our sales team continuously provides customers insights into supply, demand, headwinds and forecasts. Along the way, we have faced many challenges – increased regulation, new trade barriers, stiff competition who undercut quality and dump products to name a few. Each challenge seemed insurmountable at first. Our competitors came and went, faltered under each challenge. But with teamwork, problem-solving mindset, constant process improvement, an unwavering commitment to our quality of products and service, and a philosophy deep rooted in partnership with our business partners through good and tough times, we not only overcame but also thrived. Our working knowledge and the relationships we built have increased significantly over the years for us to become one of the most trusted names in the seafood industry. It is our hope that we will continue serving our customers well into the future.