Former Patriots Player Jarvis Green Expands His Shrimp Company in Boston
Former Patriots player Jarvis Green and Oceans 97 product outside the company’s new office in Dorchester. / Photo provided
You likely remember Jarvis Green best from his eight seasons—and two championships—with the New England Patriots. But maybe you caught him during the second season of Gordon Ramsay’s Master Chef?
Besides being drafted by the Patriots in 2002 and winning the Super Bowl with them in 2003 and 2004, the former defensive end is also a savvy chef and a businessman. Today, he announced Oceans 97, his Gulf shrimp wholesale company, is opening a new office in Boston, the Boston Globe first reported. Located at SnapChef Culinary Innovation Center in Dorchester, it’s the company’s first expansion beyond its Louisiana headquarters.
Oceans97 is expanding to Boston!
Thank you to @marty_walsh for your support. We look forward to a bright future in Boston. #gulfshrimp— jarvis green (@JarvisGreen97) March 8, 2016
“Expanding Oceans 97 to New England and specifically Boston has been part of the company plan since the beginning,” Green said, via a press release. “During my time with the Patriots, I developed a great appreciation for the Massachusetts seafood industry and its national and global reach.”
Oceans 97 coordinates with local processors to supply wild-caught gulf shrimp around the U.S. and Canada, and it isn’t new to the New England food scene. Green’s company currently works with Woburn distributor Dole & Bailey to provide its products at the Boston Children’s Hospital and North Shore Medical Center’s Union (Lynn) and Salem hospitals, and it’s also sold at Market Basket locations. Its new Dorchester offices will allow Oceans 97 to build new business relationships, and it will serve as a hub for the company’s growth throughout New England.
“The City of Boston is excited to welcome Oceans 97 to Boston, joining the city’s vibrant seafood industry,” said Mayor Marty Walsh, in a statement. “We thank Jarvis Green for choosing Boston as a place to expand his growing business, connecting with resources at SnapChef in Dorchester, and providing local residents good paying jobs in one of Boston’s neighborhoods.”
Green is a Louisiana native, and he grew up loving fresh seafood. At Louisiana State University, he really developed his love of cooking, he told the Globe in 2011. But he broadened his palate during his years in New England.
“I love Federal Hill, Providence’s Little Italy. I even did a two-year internship with a restaurant group on the Hill while I was with the Patriots because I wanted to learn more about the managerial aspect of the business,” he wrote in a recent blog post for the Go Providence visitors’ bureau.
Green is the owner and president of Oceans 97, which is named for his NFL number. His company’s facilities are USDA- and FDA-inspected, and its products are 100 percent sustainably-caught by Louisiana fishermen, with whom Green works directly, according to today’s release.
SnapChef is a chef-owned and operated culinary training and staffing company. It moved its headquarters to Dorchester last year, and also has offices in South Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Oceans 97 chose the site for its access to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and other large commercial kitchens, the release states. Its Culinary Innovation Center is also home to Trader Joe’s founder Doug Rauch’s waste-reducing, low-cost store, the Daily Table.
“We look forward to working with Jarvis and his team to ensure they have the support their company needs to succeed and grow,” said SnapChef founder and CEO Todd Snopkowski.
