Our Story

Inland was founded in 1977 fueled by one man's love for the ocean and a single cab pickup truck. What started as a passion has grown into one of the largest seafood, meat, and specialty foods distributors in the Southeast. Over the years, Inland has evolved to become a trusted name in the industry, driven by our commitment to freshness, quality, and customer satisfaction.

From the love of fishing, a company was born.

As a boy, Joel Knox always loved to fish, a passion that continued well into his twenties, molding his career path and eventually leading to his creation of Inland Seafood.

After college at Emory, Joel moved to Oregon where he began his career as an outdoors writer and journalist. His love of fishing and learning about the seafood industry bloomed in those days.

In 1976, Joel moved back to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue a career in publishing. While writing about the Atlanta culinary scene, the lack of fresh seafood in the area's restaurants spawned the idea of bringing a larger variety of fresh seafood from Oregon into the South.

Inland Seafood was born on March 2, 1977, when Joel picked up his first air freight shipment from Oregon of Wild Columbia River King Salmon, Pacific Dover Sole, and Rockfish fillets. He loaded these boxes of fish onto a pickup truck at the Eastern Airlines freight terminal at the then William B. Hartsfield Atlanta Airport, and headed out to make his first delivery to the Captain’s Roost Restaurant in East Point, Georgia.

Next, Joel started to travel and source fish from the rest of United States, which developed into his life’s journey. It was the beginning of what today is Inland Seafood Corporation of North America.

The last 40+ years have passed in a flash. Inland Seafood has grown to a group of over 500 hardworking and passionate people, who together now own one of the best seafood, specialty meat, and artisan food purveyors in the United States.

Learn more about our distribution capabilities here.