The Samtass Story
Family Owned Since 1988
Overview
Samtass Bros Seafoods is an all Australian family owned seafood processing and distribution company. Samtass primarily caters for the South Australian seafood consumers through its retail premises at Richmond that is open to the public seven days a week. As well through its wholesale and distribution branch at Richmond, Samtass delivers fresh and frozen seafoods to numerous restaurants, hotels and cafés throughout the entire state.
Samtass Bros also has a members seafood lovers club boasting over 4000 members who acquire rewards points with every purchase. Samtass is supplied by many fishermen locally around South Australia as well as fishermen in all other states. As well as retailing and wholesaling, Samtass distributes seafood to other wholesalers and retailers in many parts of Australia.
History
Samtass Brothers Seafoods is owned and operated by the third generation of the Andonas family to be involved in fish since the migration of Mr Tom Andonas from Rhodes Island, Greece in 1924. He married to Elsie in 1928 and worked in various positions until 1936 when he began his first involvement in the fishing and seafood business. His involvement continued for over 50 years. Firstly in humble beginnings as a hawker, buying directly from the local Port Adelaide fishermen and offering his purchases door to door and later wholesaling to various retail outlets in the city and suburbs. In 1939, in partnership with his brother, he opened a retail fish cafe in the city of Adelaide, maintaining the wholesale round at the same time.
For several years the two men were also employed in other occupations by day and ran the fish cafe in the evenings while their wives ran the business during the day. This venture was successful and in 1942 Tom sold his share and opened a fish cafe and retail shop near the city central produce market. Tom continued at this premise (currently the location of the Adelaide Hilton International) for over twenty years until the Adelaide city council decided to level all of the small shops for a car park (this lasted around 16 years until the Hilton was built).
During that time two of his sons, firstly Sam in 1954 & then Tass joined him and in 1979 his grandson, (Sam's son) Mark joined the family company. He was soon joined by Tass's sons, Anthony & Michael, in 1984 & 1981. In the interim Sam's wife Betty & Tass' wife Kath were helping their husbands run the family company which was by now situated in a large export factory premises in Marleston after approximately ten years on Richmond road in a purpose built Fishcafe and wholesale fish factory.
The family company continued with outstanding growth in the export of South Australian lobster, King prawns, Orange Roughy and various other Australian seafoods. In 1986, due in part to the changing attitude to fresh seafood by the public of South Australia, it was decided to channel most of the families energy into retail business. A large factory and retail shop was established on Richnond road, Richmond again (a main road in Adelaide) thus Samtass Brother's Seafoods was born.
Today Samtass retails, wholesales & distributes over 15,000 kilograms of mainly fresh seafood a week in an ever changing and competitive industry still working hands on with a staff team built up in some cases with second generation persons. You can be guaranteed that all care is taken and a back up service that's second to none is at your disposal when you deal with Samtass, as it was when Tom started it all in 1936.