packer

delivery driver

loss prevention officer

dispatch supervisor

order picker

Santa Monica Seafood

Day started at 5:30 am check ing orders place at night. this meant looking for product that was requested and not sent or we sent the wrong product. If a specialty product came in, for example, such as Hawaiian Onaga. The four owners of the company would get first crack at it thus leaving us to scramble for a substitute for a very angry chef.Day would end at 9pm with me checking orders to make sure they were placed correctly.

I learned that the oceans are being depleted quiclky of all types of seafood. Farmed Aquaculture is the way of the future with many species. Blue fin tuna should be placed on the endangered species list in the next 10 years as a result of overfishing.I also learned that promises are broken every day and people will lie straight to your face when pushed.

Management at SM Seafood is toxic to say the least. Angry people from the top down. I would come in with a very chipper attitude, say hello to people and see the stress in their faces from being badgered.
While working there 2 heads of the HR department quit. Two of the owners were sent home for a week without pay. One for using a profane term for a jewish co-worker and the other for verbally dressing down the head of HR in front of the Sales department meeting.My boss found many ways to lower my pay over the 4 years i worked with him. When he came in I was on my way to 100k for the year. It dropped 20% the following year with his new commission plan even though my sales increased 10%.

I liked my co-workers and was pleasant to all of them. To my favorites such as my driver of my territory or my inside sales person on to the Logistics department. They all recieved gifts of $50 or more for the excelent service and help they gave me. Side note. SM Seafood does not give any Holiday bonuses. When my mentor/owner found out I had given out more than $600 in gifts he asked if he could split it with me and for me to tell the employees that they were from him also. I declined.

Working sometimes 7 days a week even though we were closed. Watching my pay go down due to buying programs that were set up by company. This would give the customer extremely low pricing if they purchased solely from us. Even though my sales numbers were up my commissions went down.

Enjoyment. Access to all types of seafood at cost. Helping out chefs who forgot to order and saving the day by delivering the product in the nick of time. The occassional free meals given to my wife and I at my clients restaurants.

My day would start between 5:00am - 630am by inspecting the truck that I was assign to.For any damage. Most of the time I would depart late because warehouse staff was shorthand. They only had 3 to  5 warehousemen to load over 25 routes and we weren't allowed to load our own trucks.
Making deliveries throughout Los Angeles,Hollywood and Orange County.

The hardest part
Dealing with management yelling at us on the phone and getting those annoying calls every min regarding the same issues because they were unorganized ,they did not communicate with each other as a team. Returning to warehouse with stress because they expect you to arrive at earlier time and was not accurately written on route sheet by management.

Also the  logistic manager M***  A***** in my opinion and also 25 of the drivers  I spoke to they agreed that he was not a good candidate. I do not know why he's there just taking up space because he doesn't have any manager and people skills and the way he runs the show he was letting go of good drivers that worked hard and would keep the ones that brown nose.

I learned that fresh doesn't mean anything anymore because in this warehouse they cut their fish every 2 to 3 day at advance to stock for inventory.
No wonder Customers were getting bad Tuna when the Chefs from restaurants would test for quality it was too old, slimey salmon, brown smelly mahi mahi and shellfish that was harvested as late as 11 days.  

What I most enjoyed was helping out customers and the co workers (drivers and warehousemen) I worked with were pleasant.

On an employee perspective, this Company still feels like a small company even though it has grown tremendously by 4 billion dollars....  culture, values, ethics, work environment is bad.Even doe its a  family owned.They do not make you feel welcome.The drivers were always at fault or wrong when it came to talking in a group of coworkers(drivers) while waiting for truck to be loaded or calling in sick or being blamed for any previous damage of vehicles at inspection or being late at arrival of any route.

When it came  to reviews on October of every year ...say goodbye to your raise because logistic manager would bring up anything to not give one. He went as far as to bring last years write ups or trady incidence.

I would like to start by stating the hardest part about working in Santa Monica Seafood. The hardest part was that there were no barriers between costumers and the hostess. People were hungry and impolite about being seated. Not all the time, but more than not, people are usually in a hurry to eat and leave which gave no room for patience. It was hard to balance everyone when they are all in your face at one time fighting for a seat when clearly they would be seated in the order in which they came in but still fought for seats as if they were in a war zone with very limited resources. If everyone waited patiently, they would get seats and eat. 

The work place culture was great. Everyone was like family having their own habits and quirks which I loved. I accepted every one as  part of family. Every one was doing their own, being themselves and just having a good time when work was not as busy. It was a great balance of work and play. 

What I learned most about working here was the compassion and patience I had with my self more and more, in spite of dealing with hungry zombies coming at me all at once... as if the world was ending. It was scary a lot of the times. I have a new understanding of what Hangry looks like now. 

The most enjoyable part of this job for me was me being a Hostess (with the mostess, I might add). I had lots of fun with the costumers. I would give a little entertainment so that everyone was distracted from their own hunger. I even got tipped for being a great entertainer. It was a delight when I had the energy to have fun with costumers.

Overall a delight to work at Santa Monica Seafood, but extremely difficult to deal with a bunch of people asking for what they want all at the same time. No boundaries or barriers like I mentioned previously. 

Santa Monica Seafood needs a better space to accommodate a barrier between the Hostess and Costumer and The waiting area needs space for costumers waiting.

What is the best part of working at the company?
There are no best for this company. It is truly awful.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The demand to sell and work load that is put on each person is enough for 2-3 people. This would be acceptable but happens as the company fires people around you. No job security. No support given. No accountability of staff who treat others disrespectfully. Harassment is normal and part of the culture.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
negative, draining and no work life balance. I worked everyday with not days off for months.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
conflict without resolutions. Rules are made so that customers are the last  people who are helped and product delivery  is often missed. MOst of your day is spent chasing your tail for what didnt happen.

Working at Santa Monica Seafood was great, after 24 years I was seeking new challenges and opportunities.  Company was moving from a family-owned seafood company servicing restaurants to working more with large chains and grocery accounts, this also caused a huge shift in the culture of the company, no longer valuing the experience and knowledge of those in the industry and on the job, but utilizing consultants and executive management from outside to build a company that looked more like a large broadline distribution company like Sysco or US Foods.   My interest was to stay focused on quality seafood, customer relationships and working within the industry to to  ensure a healthy supply of seafood, jobs in the industry and environmental protections into the future.

I got hired from santa monica seafood to work for their company in downtown Los Angeles Fish co in the morning is a Fast-Paced, High-Intensity Work Environment making all the orders for their customers and then you have to load everything for your route is alot of work for what they pay $14 per hour beside that the supervisor is very strict he wants everything perfect also checking on you at all time in the GPS even when he is at his house which make you feel uncomfortable at work. You do have benefit but they deducted  money from your check so nothing is free here you pay for everything which they suppose to provide it for free to their employees.

Managers in all departments play favoritism. HR is aware and does nothing! If you are liked you can stay and work my, the moment a new hire walks and is good looking, be prepared, they will find any excuse to terminate you.   HR”s “training manager” Sucks! When asked for specific training , it’s a bother. If We walk to HR Department to ask questions regarding training he has an attitude.  He gives you a  FIVE minute training, but all given with an attitude and always eating or food on his desk. So how are we supposed to learn and stay on top of training if this man has an attitude and thinks everything is funny.  If his boss is around, he pretends he cares about training employees. 

I work the deli part of the store were I provide services to the customers from buying fish to making special orders.
You get to learn about the products you sell (fish and Shellfish) Where they are from, how they are caught, and how to cook, and prepare them.
Management is wonderful they are always helpful and are very flexible with the schedule.
Co-workers and staff are nice helpful and fun to work with.
The hardest part about my job is just learning about the fishes where they are from, and how to cook it, plus the number codes to price it at the deli, but once that is learned its as easy as pie.

Working at Santa Monica Seafood is great because I am constantly on major projects that helps improve the environment that we live in.  

I was hired here to assist with quality control on all our products and also aid in audits such as the FSSC 22000 by complying with regulatory compliance and document control on Safefiid360.com, evaluating the ISO 14001 Environmental Aspects and many more.

Santa Monica Seafood has given me the opportunity to utilize my skills in the area that I've gone to school for. The tasks I do every day works in conjunction with my undergrad.

Santa Monica Seafood is such a wonderful diverse company to work for.  Great culture, great products and many growth opportunities here!  I’ve been at Santa Monica Seafood since 2009 and I can definitely say, “We’ve grown dramatically”!  The major growth that this company has come to be today is super unreal and to be a part of this successful company/family means a lot.  I’ve worked with big corporates in the past and even small companies - all I can say is that Santa Monica Seafood beats all the other employers that I’ve ever worked for.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Packer 24 salaries reported	$22.04 per hour
Delivery driver 4 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Loss prevention officer 4 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Dispatch supervisor 1 salary reported	$67,500 per year
Order picker 10 salaries reported	$29.50 per hour

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