Becca Millstein

Becca Millstein is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and chief executive of Fishwife, a premium tinned seafood company based in Los Angeles^[1]. Founded in 2020 and launched that December, Fishwife is widely credited as a leading force in the American tinned fish renaissance, growing from a direct-to-consumer startup to a brand available in over 3,200 retail locations including Whole Foods and Costco^[7].

The company generated approximately $7.6 million in revenue in 2024 after spending nothing on paid advertising for its first two years^[1][3]. Millstein appeared on Shark Tank in January 2024, securing a $350,000 investment from Lori Greiner and Candace Nelson^[5]. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Food & Drink in 2023^[8].

Millstein grew up in Stratham, New Hampshire^[4]. Her parents — her father raised Catholic, her mother raised Jewish — ran a secular household. She has described them as "simple, but great cooks."

She attended Brown University, graduating in 2016 with a degree in European intellectual history. At Brown, she was heavily involved in theater and served on the student theater board^[2].

During a study-abroad semester in Granada, in the Andalusia region of southern Spain, Millstein first encountered the European conservas tradition — shops lined with colorful tins of premium sardines, mackerel, and tuna. She has said she "didn't even know a sardine until I was like 20"^[2]. The experience lodged in her mind for several years before becoming a business.

Music industry (2016–2020)

After graduating from Brown, Millstein spent roughly three and a half years in the music industry. She began in the mailroom at ICM Partners, held an editorial apprenticeship at The Believer magazine, then moved to Atlantic Records for marketing and brand partnerships^[2]. Her last position before Fishwife was at a music startup she has described as "basically WeWork for musicians," which lost its purpose when the pandemic forced everything remote.

Fishwife (2020–present)

Millstein conceived Fishwife in May 2020 during a hike with her friend and then-roommate Caroline Goldfarb, a TV writer and social media personality. The two had been sheltering together in Los Angeles for roughly four and a half months, eating tinned fish as convenient protein^[2]. The company name is a deliberate reclamation of a historically derogatory term for women considered brash or unladylike.

The company launched in December 2020 with smoked albacore tuna and sardines produced at an Oregon cannery. Millstein spent half of her life savings on the first production run — canneries required minimum orders of 25,000 to 100,000 units^[1].

Fishwife spent nothing on paid advertising for its first two years, growing entirely through organic social media, word of mouth, and earned press. Revenue doubled in both 2021 and 2022^[3]. The brand's colorful, illustration-forward packaging — designed by a local Los Angeles illustrator — became an Instagram and TikTok staple, riding the broader #tinnedfish trend that generated over 100 million views on TikTok.

Fishwife sources its seafood from Marine Stewardship Council–certified fisheries, the only ASC-certified trout farm in the United States, and Fair Trade–certified salmon farms including Kvaroy Arctic in Norway. Products are hand-packed at family-owned canneries in Washington State and British Columbia^[1].

The company raised a $1 million pre-seed round in April 2022 from investors including Phenomenal Ventures and Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos. Brown University alumni played an outsized role — Millstein has noted that "the majority of my most valuable advisors and investors went to Brown"^[2].

Shark Tank (2024)

In January 2024, Millstein appeared on Season 15 of Shark Tank, asking for $350,000 at a 4% equity stake. She closed a deal at $350,000 for 6% equity plus 2% advisory shares — 1% each to Lori Greiner and guest shark Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes^[5].

In the year following the episode, Fishwife expanded from 1,800 to over 3,200 retail locations, including a nationwide rollout at Whole Foods and entry into Costco^[7].

The Fishwife Cookbook (2025)

In February 2025, Millstein published The Fishwife Cookbook: Delightful Tinned Fish Recipes for Every Occasion, co-authored with Vilda Gonzalez and published by Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins. The book features 80 recipes organized by occasion and was named one of the best cookbooks of Spring 2025 by Eater and the Los Angeles Times.

Millstein was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Food & Drink in 2023^[8]. She was included on Inc. Magazine's 2024 Female Founders 250 list and PureWow's 24 in '24.

Fishwife was featured in The New York Times, Vogue, Forbes, Bon Appetit, and Food & Wine within months of launch^[3]. The brand's Smoked Salmon with Sichuan Chili Crisp, a collaboration with Fly By Jing, became one of the company's bestselling products.

Quotations attributed to Millstein in published sources.

Millstein and Fishwife have been covered extensively in food, business, and lifestyle media since the brand's launch in December 2020.

Additional coverage has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, Food & Wine, Eater, and the Los Angeles Times. The Fishwife Cookbook was named one of the best cookbooks of Spring 2025 by both Eater and the Los Angeles Times^[12].

Fishwife has pursued a brand-collaboration strategy unusual in CPG, partnering with brands outside the seafood category to reach new audiences and reinforce its lifestyle positioning.

Notable collaborations include:

• Fly By Jing — Smoked Salmon with Sichuan Chili Crisp, a co-branded product that became one of Fishwife's bestsellers. Fly By Jing is the chili crisp brand founded by Jing Gao.
• Brightland — Joint gift sets pairing Fishwife tinned fish with Brightland's California olive oils.
• Diaspora Co. — Spice-and-tinned-fish bundles, co-marketed with the single-origin spice company founded by Sana Javeri Kadri.
• Omsom — Cross-promotions with the Asian pantry brand founded by Vanessa and Kim Pham.

Millstein has described the collaboration strategy as building a "community of indie food brands" — small, founder-led companies that share audiences and amplify each other rather than competing for shelf space^[1].