Big Fish Wholesale Seafood celebrates first anniversary

Big Fish Grill of Rehoboth Beach is a local landmark. Since 1997, the restaurant has consistently served fresh and delicious American cuisine daily, with an emphasis on mouth-watering seafood, to a packed house of lunch and dinner guests.

A laser focus on delivering the freshest food, impeccable customer service, and unsurpassed hospitality has earned Big Fish Grill many kudos along the way, including Delaware Today’s Best Seafood at the Beach Award annually since the restaurant opened its doors.

Over the past 10 years, owners Eric and Norman Sugrue have expanded their restaurant holdings to include Big Fish Market and The Summer House of Rehoboth, Big Fish Grill on the Riverfront and FireStone Roasting House and Bar of Wilmington. Now a third Big Fish Grill location will open in late summer 2011 in Glen Mills, Pa. With the restaurant group growing, the need to continuously source the freshest seafood available has grown as well.

From the beginning, the brothers have researched seafood distributors and suppliers, both locally and worldwide, from whom to obtain the highest-quality seafood available on the global market.

As they began to form relationships with large suppliers, they realized the need for a local seafood distributor to service the hundreds of restaurants across the Delmarva Peninsula. That led to the formation of Big Fish Wholesale Seafood Company in May 2010, the distribution arm of the Big Fish Restaurant Group.

“When we started Big Fish Wholesale Seafood Company last year, we initially wanted to ensure we could supply our own restaurants with the absolute freshest, top-quality seafood available,” said Eric Sugrue. “After we began developing these business ties with local and global suppliers, we realized we had the capacity to also distribute this remarkable seafood quickly and economically to restaurants in our region. Our main goals with distribution are very similar to our mission at our restaurants: Deliver the top-quality product, with the least amount of hassle, as quickly and cost-effectively as possible to our customers.”

The company is able to balance inventory and orders very efficiently because of the restaurants’ continuous demand for fresh seafood. “We have virtually no inventory waste as we have natural outlets for any overages – we simply will use it in-house at one of our restaurants. It allows us to have a just-in-time inventory system, which is absolutely imperative when providing fresh seafood,” said Sugrue.

Big Fish Wholesale Seafood Company operates out of warehouse space next to the original Big Fish Grill. Fresh seafood is delivered on a daily basis, and it is meticulously checked for quality and freshness. “We always use local fish whenever possible,” said Sugrue. “Supporting our region’s fishing industry is a matter of pride for us, and we believe in the ‘locavore’ movement. When we do source fish globally, we focus on purchasing through sustainable and ecosystem-based fisheries that support the reduction of overfishing.”

Upon delivery, the 11-person team at the Big Fish warehouse immediately takes the shipment into the spacious cooler, where the fish is weighed in, inspected, cleaned and portioned. “We will prepare our customers’ fish any way they wish, from loins to individual portions to whole fish with the skin and scales,” said Bob Moyer, Big Fish Wholesale’s general manager and buyer. “We also welcome chefs and buyers to the warehouse to examine and select their own fish which we will deliver or they can take with them back to their restaurants.” Two delivery trucks head out from the warehouse around 11 a.m., seven days a week, dropping off product at over 100 restaurants throughout Delaware and Maryland.

As long as a restaurant’s order is in to the warehouse by 9 a.m., Big Fish Wholesale will ensure it is delivered that day. The company has also been able to find economies of scale and efficiency for its customers with supplies. If a client is out of a necessary dry good, such as napkins or straws, Big Fish Wholesale will add the missing item to the delivery trucks if it is in stock. “Customer service has always been and will always be our No. 1 priority,” said Eric Sugrue. “We will always go the extra mile for our customers and clients, especially since we are restaurateurs ourselves.”

Many local restaurants and chefs are now devoted clients. “These guys take service to the next level,” said Nino Mancari, executive chef of Salt Air. “Bob Moyer is a huge asset. In a pinch, for a friend doing a catered event, Bob loaned my buddy the Big Fish delivery truck. Who does that? The quality of their product blew me away. We have become converted, loyal, and exclusive buyers of their goods.”

Recently, the Big Fish team attended the 2011 Boston International Seafood Show, North America’s largest seafood event, featuring more than 800 exhibits offering a vast array of seafood, seafood products, seafood services and seafood equipment from all over the world. “The array of product and number of possible vendors for restaurant wholesalers is staggering,” said Eric Sugrue. “At Big Fish Wholesale Seafood Company, we are working to simplify this process and provide our colleagues, friends, and customers with a local distributor they can absolutely trust to provide the best seafood at the best price…with a smile.”

Big Fish Wholesale Seafood Company is at 37369 Martin St. in Rehoboth Beach, just behind Big Fish Grill. Call 302-226-FISH or visit www.bigfishrestaurantgroup.com for further information.