This Legendary California Fish Market Sold $30 Million in One Year Thanks to Viral Videos – Then Caught Amazon's Attention San Pedro Fish Market's Michael Ungaro and Henry Ungaro Jr. on creating the 'Kings of Fi$h' reality show, going viral and running a profitable family business.
By Shawn P. Walchef Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- A viral 2017 video led to a surge in sales that hasn't let up since.
- The market's social media presence has made it a brand known around the world.
- After creating 'Kings of Fi$h' as a web show to take control of the company narrative, the market caught Amazon's attention.
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You know your restaurant has gone viral when it shuts down a California freeway off-ramp. That's what happened to the San Pedro Fish Market after popular content creator Foodbeast made a video about its "Super Seafood Tray."
With its irresistible mountain of seasoned shrimp, onions, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, the family meal was destined to be popular. But no one at San Pedro Fish Market knew just how famous it would become until the Foodbeast feature hit social media.
After the video went viral, racking up millions of views, San Pedro Fish Market CEO and co-owner Michael Ungaro received a call from the Los Angeles Port Police on a rainy March day.
Port Police had to shut down the off-ramps from the highway because they couldn't handle the traffic coming in to eat at the fish market. The police were confused about why so many people were driving in on a day that typically wouldn't see much traffic to the waterfront.
"That video went so viral it brought in 30,000 customers in 10 days from all over the country and outside the country," Ungaro tells Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef. "People were calling from London, South America, Kansas and Florida."
The Super Seafood Tray has become one of the most Instagrammed dishes around. "We just started to realize, after telling our story and using these social media platforms, why people are visiting us," says Ungaro, who started working at his family's fish market at age 7. "They're visiting us with families; they are visiting us for the experience. And the more we pushed that narrative out, the more powerful our brand became."
Kings of Fi$h Series on Prime Video
San Pedro Fish Market's Foodbeast feature came after it had already started investing in content of its own. Its award-winning web show Kings of Fi$h began as a way to capture the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit of the family, spotlighting the lively, fun-loving characters who have built and continue to fuel this thriving business. San Pedro Fish Market serves 2.5 million people every year.
Now, the business expects to reach new heights of fame with the debut of its Kings of Fi$h series on Amazon Prime Video on August 13.
Eight years after the fish market published its first Kings of Fi$h videos — and on the eve of its Amazon Prime Video debut — the impact of the family's storytelling strategy is evident.
San Pedro Fish Market has become a global phenomenon because the family chooses to tell their story repeatedly with content.
"All of us have a story of traveling somewhere far away and seeing a Fish Market shirt," Ungaro says. "I've traveled to Europe, and after college, same thing. I went down to Mexico to visit with a couple of our employees — Fish Market shirts. It's just insane."
This global recognition is a testament to San Pedro Fish Market's successful marketing and storytelling efforts, making it a recognized name worldwide.
Related: This Fine-Dining Titan Understands the Power of Hands-On Experience and Diversification
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