IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE AMERICAN FISH & SEAFOOD
COMPANY AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE TOPSELLING
FRESH AND FROZEN SEAFOOD PROVIDER IT
today, but founder George Doizaki’s profound success traces its roots to a momentary diversion, when George was stopped by a lake in Utah as he traveled home to Los Angeles. He had spent the war years avoiding internment farming with re l atives in Colorado, an experience that taught him he didn’t want to be a farm e r. As he stood by the lake, watching a group of f i s herman, George Doizaki decided that somehow, some way, his future was in fish.

Not long after this revelation, George, along with his partner Masuro Okamoto, founded American Fish & Seafood Company. The early days were anything but easy. Mainstream households had not yet learned the value of fresh seafood for regular meals, at least not beyond the “fish for Friday” rituals o b s e rved by many Catholics. But the men persisted, and those early customers were loyal. The first processing plant was humble in comparison to those of today, and fish was
delivered on the back of a flatbed truck. From the beginning,
George and his partner were deeply committed to quality and
service, and this commitment proved to be the backbone of
the company, sustaining its steady growth and development to
the dynamic business it is today, delivering over a million
pounds of seafood to happy customers each week.

Three years after they opened, longtime family friend Harry Fujino joined the effort, and secured for the company their first major retailer, Vons Grocery Company. Throughout the 1950s the gentlemen gradually increased their service base, adding supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, caterers, airlines, and cruise lines. As their client base grew,
they branched out of the Los Angeles area, serving clients on
both the east and west coasts. In May of 1981 the company
split into two separate divisions: Los Angeles Fish would serve

over 300 Japanese restaurants, headed up by Hisato Doizaki. American Fish continued in the vein envisioned by George Doizaki. When he passed away in 1982, his son took over as president, and Jim Lanter was named vice president, heading up a skilled cadre of executives practiced in purc h a s i n g , o p e rations finance, and sales and marketing. In December of 2002 Jim Lanter became president and CEO of the company, and Ernie became chairman of the board.

American Fish & Seafood then began a period of geographic expansion, growing into the sizable corporation it is t o d a y. It boasts six distribution centers: American Fish L.A., American Fish Reno, American Fish Sacramento, Cactus Cove Palm Desert, Los Angeles Fish, and Kansas Marine Florida. The latter division serves the major cruise lines,
supplying not only fish, but also everything the cruise lines require to provide service, from TVs to mattresses. In the midst of this rapid
growth, Ernie and Jim recognized the need for tight control on the quality of the products. To ensure excellence, they became the first distributor in the western United States to use a
v o l u n t a ry government inspection. The plants and p roducts are inspected by the United States Department of
C o m m e rce, and meet all re q u i rements to be H.A.C.C.P. approved.

To d a y, American Fish & Seafood employs over 500 people in its plants across the nation and recently added an Internet division, providing customers even greater ease of purchasing. The Internet division pairs its offerings with recipes from a professional chef, bringing ever-increasing choices and information to customers.

They are currently building a new 65,000-square-foot
plant, and will move the headquarters and American Fish LA
to the brand new facility in early 2005. American Fish & Seafood has
enjoyed continual growth and success over the last half-century. The addition of each new plant brings with it a new g e neral manager and a new team of professionals to uphold the company’s original values. Through all the changes, it is the adherence to those values that never
wavers, and this steadfast commitment to excellence is plain to see in the millions of satisfied customers and clients served by American Fish & Seafood.