Local company brings fresh seafood to your dinner table

A local company is trying to bring fresh fish to your dinner table while sustaining local jobs and the environment. It’s called Real Good Fish, and it’s got a unique take on an old tradition.

At the Sanchez house, Tuesday night dinner is one they look forward to all week. Travis Sanchez says, “one time we had fish tacos one day and with the leftovers she made ceviche the next day.” “it’s always a surprise to see what it actually looks like when it comes to you.” according to Hanne Sanchez. Every Tuesday, Hanne and Travis head down to Zeph’s to pick up some “Real Good Fish,” at least that’s the name of the company behind this fresh local delivery to some 575 members. Alan Lovewell says, “it’s really about access and diversity.”

The man who heads this fish co-op of sorts is co-founder Alan Lovewell. He approaches his business as a consumer, looking for great local fish to eat. He says, “What we’re trying to do is increase the amount of seafood that’s being kept here locally, not only because we need to be eating from our water and supporting local jobs, but it’s from a quality standpoint it’s the highest quality seafood you can get.”

Lovewell’s company works with about 25 local fisherman, like Giuseppe Pennisi, who brings three generations of fishing expertise to the customer’s table. Pennisi says, “What alan is doing is he’s getting the fish that’s coming off this boat at 27 degrees with the flavor locked in and he’s giving it to people so that they can enjoy it at home, while it’s still so fresh that it’s got a lot of flavor.” Though fishing is a decades old family tradition for Pennisi, he approaches it like a 21st century scientist, analyzing every aspect, from the nets to the temperature storage of his cargo. He says, “I don’t think there’s any food on this planet that you could have that’s as healthy as the seafood that comes out of our backyard.” Seafood from our backyard that is also keeping a Watsonville processing plant busy, even during parts of the year it might otherwise sit idle.

Del Mar Seafoods, CFO, Joe Roggio says, “It’s a great idea, basically we’re promoting local seafoods and we’re providing local jobs, which is a great fit for us.” There’s plenty of work, cleaning, cutting, and individually packaging each delivery just the way the customer wants it, whether it’s fillets or the whole fish. Introducing members to seafood they may never have heard of, such as Black Cod or Rockfish, all while setting its sites on sustainability. Fish bones are saved for broth and the bycatch, or fish they didn’t intend to catch, goes to local schools for lunch.

Lovewell says, “They really love the idea of supporting the community and being part of the community and deriving meaning and being a part of this obviously amazing coastline that we call home.” And he says, that’s really what keeps his business growing, creating jobs, inspiring fishermen, and developing a real taste for local seafood. He says, “Our members and families really set aside time to say hey you know we’re going to cook a really important meal, it’s going to come from our ocean, it’s going to be celebrating our fisherman and that has been remarkable.”

Real Good Fish, http://www.realgoodfish.com/, offers the service for 22 dollars per week or you can pick up bi-monthly and pay that rate every two weeks.