our freshwater whitefish links

The Mackinac Straits Fish Company is committed to providing the freshest, highest quality whitefish available. Their fish come exclusively from the cold, clear waters of the Upper Great Lakes and are processed at their manufacturing facility in the small town of St. Ignace in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Mackinac Straits processes the fish as soon as they receive them, often less than an hour from being taken from the nets. The smoking wood is from local forests: a blend of indigenous hardwoods, primarily sugar maple. Tasting Mackinac Straits' Whitefish Fillets, Lake Links,
Whitecaps Spread, or vacuum-packed fresh fillets is tasting the very essence of the Great Lakes.

The company faced hurdles to the commercial production of smoked fish products, but Bentgen worked with microbiologist Dr. John Troller to revise outdated regulations, and in 1997, the State of Michigan approved the production of high quality smoked fish products like the ones the
Mackinac Straits Fish Company wanted to make.

Bentgen's crusade for flavor and quality was rewarded when the company received the first variance under the new regulations to produce a unique fillet with extended shelf life. These fillets combine the best of traditional flavor with high-tech food packaging--hand-trimmed
fillets, with just salt and a touch of brown sugar to complement the hardwood smoke, vacuum-packed to stay succulently moist and firm.

In August of 2000, to insure a steady supply of high quality fresh fish, Bentgen purchased her cousin's fresh fish processing business. The acquisition expanded the company's customer base, and also added a retail outlet so that the company could sell directly to the consumer at their manufacturing plant.

In 1972, she left the Upper Peninsula to join Proctor & Gamble as a process engineer at their Cheboygan, Michigan plant. In 1974, she transferred to product development at Proctor & Gamble's corporate headquarters in Cincinnati. Before she transferred, she bought a little
log cabin on the shores of the straights of Mackinac, only one mile from where she'd grown up. She would always have a place to go back to.

She spent most of her career in Proctor & Gamble's food and beverage division, taking on increasing product development responsibilities for a number of the company's brands. The more she learned about the food industry, with its need for engineered ingredients and mass-produced,
lowest-common-denominator tastes, the more she longed to return to eating simple foods like the ones from her Upper Peninsula childhood. She began a journey to rediscover that simple human connection, the real essence of cooking. In 1985, she attended La Verenne cooking school in Paris. In 1988, she helped her sister purchase a small bakery in St. Ignace, and in the process, began to make all of her own breads, sourdoughs, and baked goods.

In 1991, Jill's husband, Dr. Willis Poland, retired, and the couple adopted a little girl. In 1994, they adopted another little girl, and decided to move their new family to Traverse City, Michigan, only 100 miles from the Mackinac Straights and the Upper Peninsula. Jill began helping her cousin, Ben Brown, the owner of a St. Ignace fresh fish processing company which was struggling with shrinking markets and declining prices. With some of her Proctor & Gamble colleagues, Jill developed a line of 15 smoked fish items that tasted great and addressed
the underlying economic problems of the fresh fish business. The idea for Mackinac Straits Fish Company was born.

The Mackinac Straits Fish Company was founded in 1994 by Jill Bentgen, a native of St. Ignace with broad experience in food product development gained through her decades with consumer foods giant Procter & Gamble.

Mackinac Straits specializes in smoked freshwater fish products using fish exclusively from the cold, clear waters of the Upper Great Lakes. Its unique food line includes Whitefish Fillets, Lake Links, Whitecaps Spread, and vacuum-packed fresh fillets.

In 1997, Northwest Airlines began serving Mackinac Straits' smoked whitefish fillet on their trans-Pacific flights. American Spoon Foods became an important customer when they offered the company's products in their retail stores and mail-order catalogs. Whole Foods Market in Ann
Arbor became another loyal and growing customer several years ago.

In August of 2000, Mackinac Straits purchased the Mackinac Fish Market, a fresh fish processor located in St. Ignace. The company ships dressed whole fish caught in the Upper Great Lakes to distributors in New York, Chicago and Detroit, sells fresh fish fillets to restaurants in the
Straits area, and maintains a retail shop at its processing facility.

The Mackinac Fish Market built a reputation of being a dependable supplier of high quality fresh fish, and developed a loyal customer base, including the Mackinac Island Hotels, notably the renowned Grand Hotel. The company also developed strong relationships with other fish
processors and commercial fishermen in the area, insuring a high quality supply.