It was New Year’s Eve, and my husband and I were feeling homesick for Tokyo—not only for our families, but the food which is difficult to recreate here in Nashville. Serendipitously, my friend posted on Instagram about a fresh fish delivery service called Aloha Fish Company. Customers place their orders online by Wednesday and pick it up Saturday at one of six locations throughout the city. All their fish is sustainably caught and never frozen. Their menu is whatever the fishermen in Hawaii caught that week, which might include Bigeye Ahi tuna, Ono (Wahoo), Opah (moonfish), Shutome (swordfish), Mahi Mahi (dolphin fish), and more. They also offer Ora King Salmon from New Zealand, DIY kits for fish tacos, poke, ceviche, and temaki handrolls. My mouth began to water just browsing their website. We decided to give it a try.
The moment I put their salmon sashimi in my mouth, my mind immediately transported me back to Tsukiji Fish Market and all my memories of sharing a sushi platter with my parents and grandparents on special occasions. I could see my husband in a similar trance with his mouthful of Ahi. We had just stumbled upon the best cure for homesickness, and we knew we’d be back for more.
Aloha Fish Co. was founded in 2020 by a dynamic couple of the food industry: Jennifer Cheung Cline, who grew up in Honolulu and spent over two decades working in sales and hospitality in Las Vegas, and Jerry Cline, who has culinary experience with five-diamond hotels and was most recently the Executive Chef for the Tennessee Titans.
After moving to Nashville in 2019, Jennifer and Jerry realized how much they missed good fish (more accessible in places like Honolulu and the West Coast). During one of her phone calls with her cousin in Hawaii, he teased and said he could send them fresh fish if they order at least 80 pounds.
“Back then, I didn’t even have 8 friends,” Jennifer recalls with a smile. But that didn’t stop them from seeing their idea through. Jennifer told a few friends, who told their friends, and through word-of-mouth, they pulled off their first 80-pound shipment. Their friends got their fresh fish in time for Memorial Day weekend, and it was a huge success.
“That was fun,” Jerry said.
The word “fun” lingered in Jennifer’s head. When she was furloughed from her job two weeks later, the next step was intuitive. What if they continued these shipments, but for all of Nashville? The couple got to work creating their logo and name, and Aloha Fish Co. was up and running by that summer.