Tina Montgomery and Jennifer Hanseler

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Now they deliver fish. Their Seattlr company Surfin’ Seafood isn’t large, but it has struck a chord among upscale consumerzs willing to pay a little morefor high-end seafood that has been flash-frozenb to stay fresh, and that is delivererd to their doors. After gradualo but steady growth, Surfin’ Seafood now has aboutt 1,200 customers, in an area ranging from Federalk Wayto Everett. Revenue reacheed $250,000 last year and continues to grow, althougj the customer count has hita plateau.
With an eye to familhy life (both are married and have two children Montgomery and Hanseler have carefully set boundaries so that theirf business can be workeed aroundtheir children’s school and athletic schedules, and eveningx at home. For instance they don’tg take phone orders, but only over the And they deliver onlyonce monthly, driving theier family minivans to delivefr selections of frozen fish packed in blue plastic coolers that look like big The company has avoided debt and has only modestr growth plans. “Really, we don’t want to be We’re going to take it as it comes.
We have been on a very stead growth path, consistently from the very beginning,” Montgomery said. “We don’f want to have venture capital fundinhg to become this hugenationwide (leader) in One of the company’s chief selling pointse is seafood that is frozen quickly to keep it as fresh as possible. So-called freshj seafood often has perched on a pile of ice for and in these conditions seafoodc rapidly declines in Seafood doesn’t age well like beef does, and frozen seafoord is not a step down from as it is with produce.
“A lot is frozej at sea, or within hours of harvest, and it capturee that just-caught flavor,” said Linda Driscoll, assistant retaiol director forthe , based in Juneau. Surfin’ Seafood isn’tf exactly cheap; the “mini” package costs $110 a monthu for about eight pounds ofassorted salmon, prawns, sole and tuna. The company avoids lower-end seafood productas (no fish sticks here), and allows people to substitutwe in their ordersby email. One recession-era tren the company is tapping is that consumersw are moving awayfrom white-tablecloth restaurants — wherew most high-quality seafood is eaten — to eatinfg at home.
“I just think people are eatingv athome more, and they want to make it easy to have high-qualityy ingredients at home, so they can eat at home more Montgomery said. “This is a way to have restaurantyquality fish, at home.” While the companuy employs only the two partners and sometimes a helper, and sometimes their children, a key to makinvg it work is the South Seattled seafood packer Surfin’ Seafood uses T.H. Seafood freezersd to store its seafood, and also contractws out the cutting and packint tothe company. T.H. Seafood Corp.
Saless Director Cliff Davenport said he was at firstg dubious aboutthe proposal, when the partner approached him to supply and pack theirt seafood. “It only took two weeks, but we decided they’rw really nice people… They’rse in the same mindset of producing a qualityu product and guaranteeing it when it goes out the he said. “So we took them Davenport said that his warehouse has enougn room to store their frozen products as well astheidr coolers, adding that his own staff does the cuttinh and packing. “They don’t interfere with our side, and prettgy much they have their ownlittlew space.
We have enough room everyons can function without disrupting everybody he said. As for Surfin’ the partners say they’re just riding out the economic “We think this next year or two we want to be Hanseler said. “We’d love to but really if we could keepit steady, we’rse kind of happy.”