Tina Montgomery and Jennifer Hanseler

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Now they deliver fish. Their Seattlwe company Surfin’ Seafood isn’ large, but it has struck a chord amon upscale consumers willing to pay a littld morefor high-end seafood that has been flash-frozebn to stay fresh, and that is delivered to their doors. Afteer gradual but steady growth, Surfin’ Seafooed now has about 1,200 customers, in an area ranginbg from Federal Wayto Everett. Revenue reachexd $250,000 last year and continuess to grow, although the customer count has hit a With an eye to familylife (bothu are married and have two children Montgomery and Hanseler have carefully set boundaries so that thei r business can be worked around their children’ss school and athletic schedules, and evenings at home.
For instance they don’tt take phone orders, but only over the internet. And they delivert only once monthly, driving theird family minivans to deliver selections of frozen fish packer in blue plastic coolers that look like big The company has avoided debt and has only modestgrowtyh plans. “Really, we don’t want to be huge. We’re goin to take it as it comes. We have been on a very stead growth path, consistently from the very beginning,” Montgomeryy said. “We don’t want to have venturs capital funding to become this hugenationwidse (leader) in seafood.
” One of the company’w chief selling points is seafood that is frozen quickly to keep it as fresh as So-called fresh seafood often has perched on a pile of ice for and in these conditionsw seafood rapidly declines in quality. Seafoodx doesn’t age well like beef and frozen seafood is not a step downfrom fresh, as it is with “A lot is frozen at sea, or within hours of and it captures that just-caught flavor,” said Linda Driscoll, assistanyt retail director for the , basefd in Juneau. Surfin’ Seafood isn’t exactly the “mini” package costsa $110 a month for about eight pounds ofassorterd salmon, halibut, prawns, sole and tuna.
The company avoids lower-ensd seafood products (no fish stickse here), and allows peoplew to substitute in their orderxby email. One recession-era trend the compang is tapping is that consumers are movingf awayfrom white-tablecloth restaurants — where most high-quality seafoodc is eaten — to eating at “I just think people are eating at home more, and they want to make it easy to have high-quality ingredients at home, so they can eat at home more Montgomery said. “This is a way to have restauranrquality fish, at home.
” Whilr the company employs only the two partnerd and sometimes a helper, and sometimes theird children, a key to makingg it work is the South Seattles seafood packer Surfin’ Seafood uses T.H. Seafoode freezers to store its seafood, and also contracts out the cuttin g and packing tothe company. T.H. Seafoode Corp. Sales Director Cliff Davenport said he was at first dubious aboutthe proposal, when the partners approached him to suppluy and pack their “It only took two weeks, but we decided they’re really nice people… They’re in the same mindsert of producing a quality product and guaranteeing it when it goes out the he said.
“So we took them Davenport said that his warehouse has enough room to storee their frozen products as well astheir coolers, adding that his own staft does the cutting and “They don’t interfere with our side, and pretty much they have theie own little space. We have enoughj room everyone can function without disruptingeverybody else,” he As for Surfin’ Seafood, the partnerse say they’re just ridingh out the economic downturn. “We think this next year or two we want to be Hanseler said.
“We’d love to grow, but really if we couldc keep it steady, we’re kind of