Rancho Dominguez, CALIFORNIA – Santa Monica Seafood is proud to announce it has executed a 26,000 SF lease for a facility near Baltimore, Maryland that will be the third location for its skin-pack operations. Construction will start in early February and operations should commence in Q3 of this year.
“Since launching our skin-packed seafood program in 2016 in Los Angeles and again in 2018 in Chicago, we have seen explosive growth and tremendous support from our retail partners for chilled, case ready seafood,” said Roger O’Brien, President and CEO of Santa Monica Seafood. “Opening this third location and expanding our services and capabilities to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions will give us delivery coverage to approximately 40 states, all within a maximum 48 hours of the pack date.”
O’Brien noted, “These three locations all focus on case ready, chilled skin-packed seafood tailored to the needs of the retail segment. Our Baltimore site will initially have 8 million pounds capacity for both plain and value-added case ready seafood, and we have provided for further expansion of packaging lines and additional facility space to expand capacity as our growth continues. Our Phase 1 program will require an investment of $8 million in leasehold improvements and equipment. As a company, we will have 100,000 SF of space devoted exclusively to case ready, chilled skin-packed seafood.”
Santa Monica Seafood will soon commence a search for a local management team and staff. O’Brien estimates the initial workforce requirement will be approximately 30 employees, growing to approximately 50 employees as production ramps up.
ABOUT SANTA MONICA SEAFOOD – Santa Monica Seafood, an 84-year-old privately-owned company, is the largest specialty wholesale distributor and processor of fresh and frozen seafood in the Southwestern and Midwestern U.S. with approximately 300,000 SF of facilities in 15 locations across the United States. Santa Monica Seafood was the first and still the only seafood company in the United States to achieve FSSC 22000 certification for food safety management systems, ISO 14001 certification for environmental management programs, and BAP certification for its main processing facility for repacking salmon and tilapia products.
