Tinned with Purpose: Great Lakes Tinned Fish
The first time I came across Great Lakes Tinned Fish, I imagine I felt something like the person who fried fish and put it on a taco: Now that’s a good idea. Tinned fish? So in vogue. Great Lakes seafood? Maybe less glamorous, but deeply rooted in Midwestern tradition.
Across Chicago and beyond, tinned fish has found new life in recent years at trendy happy hours and upscale bar menus. It’s easy to see the appeal: long shelf life, minimal prep, and a high-low charm that blends effortlessly with today’s dining culture. But most of what we see on store shelves still comes from European brands—anchovies from Spain, sardines from Portugal, or mussels from France.
Enter Great Lakes Tinned Fish, a homegrown solution that brings the conversation back to the Midwest. With this line of preserved regional seafood, founder and marketing consultant Marissa Fellows is reframing how we think about local fish.
Fellows launched the brand in 2023 with a mission to spotlight underutilized species from the Great Lakes, like whitefish and lake trout. These native fish are abundant, nutritious, and caught with lower environmental impact than many marine species shipped across the globe. But despite their availability, they rarely show up in home kitchens—especially in preserved form. Great Lakes Tinned Fish aims to change that.
The packaging aptly captures the clean-girl aesthetic crowding the shelves of your nearest high-end market, but it’s what’s inside that really delivers. Each tin highlights the clean, meaty flavor of the fish, balanced with subtle aromatics and high-quality oil. Most recently, a new Garlic and Shallot variety was added to the mix.
Great Lakes Tinned Fish offers something increasingly rare: a product that’s as practical as it is purposeful, and as tasty as it is timely. Enjoy a taste at Bisous or grab a can at independent retailers around the city including All Together Now, Floriole Café and Bakery, and Neighborly.
Tins are also available for shipping nationwide, with an updated list of retailers at greatlakestinnedfish.com.
Photos courtesy of Great Lakes Tinned Fish.
