Founded in August 2001 by Randy Hartnell and Dave Hamburg in Bellingham, Washington. Hartnell had spent more than 20 years as a commercial fisherman in Alaska before wild salmon prices collapsed when cheap farmed salmon flooded the market. Nearly broke, he and Hamburg began touring grocery stores across the Midwest cooking wild salmon samples. A woman named Helen asked how she could keep getting it after they left, and that question became the founding moment. Vital Choice started as a direct-mail wild salmon company and grew into a leading sustainable seafood brand. Acquired by 1-800-Flowers in 2021.
