More than 40 years ago, Ana Frederico, an unassuming entrepreneur, borrowed $1,000 from her parents. Her husband, Fernando Frederico, used it as seed money to start their own specialty foods importing business.
Fernando would purchase fish and other seafood, package it himself and deliver it to customers in the Central Valley three times a week.
Neither of them knew it then, but they were onto something big—bigger than they could have ever imagined.
Today, the married couple are founders and owners of Lusamerica Fish, a full fledged fresh and frozen seafood processing and distribution company based here in Morgan Hill.
“Only in America,” repeated Ana, an immigrant from Portuguese Mozambique, who started Lusamerica with Fernando in 1975.
“Our goal is, ‘If it swims, we got it’—and somewhere along the line we will get it, in a sustainable way,” said Fernando, emphasizing the sustainability of the various seafood products handled at Lusamerica.
Family is of just as much importance to the Fredericos, who employ several relatives at the Morgan Hill headquarters located at 16480 Railroad Ave., where they’ve been for more than 10 years.
“We are proud to be here,” said Ana’s brother, Tony Silva, the company’s general manager. “We chose Morgan Hill, first of all because it is beautiful here. And the city really made it as easy to work with as any city we were looking at and even more so.”
Before moving into their current operations, they gutted and customized the former Napa Auto Parts building into a refrigerated warehouse where they could process and distribute their products.
“It’s a labor of love, not for the company and the employees, but for the people in Morgan Hill,” added Silva, detailing that Lusamerica seafood is stocked at all of the Safeway grocery stores and Costco warehouses in Northern California. “When you go to the grocery store here in Morgan Hill, most likely the products you’re buying are from Lusamerica.”
The fish business is big business
Silva worked in the research and development of microprocessors in the high tech industry for 13 years before joining the family fish outfit. “I thought I’d spend my life in high tech,” he said.
His sister and brother-in-law’s growing seafood business changed all that.
The family-owned and family-run company, with many employees considered extended family with more than 20 years loyal to the business, processes in excess of 350,000 pounds of antibiotic-free salmon per week, according to Silva. The retail-oriented operation runs 24 hours-seven days a week. They have 250 employees in Morgan Hill alone (mostly all are residents of South County) and 385 company-wide with two other locations, a processing facility in Fife, Washington and a distribution facility in Vernon, Calif.
“Anything that swims, we carry,” noted Silva, again reiterating if it’s not sustainable then they don’t carry it. “The seafood industry is very global. We get fish from all over the world.”
Mostly all the salmon Lusamerica gets is flown in from Norway on British Airway freight planes “loaded to the grills.” When Lusamerica receives the product from one of its fleet of 50 trucks, the fish are partially processed, so the trucks are unloaded and workers finish the processing at the Morgan Hill plant. They butcher it down to portions, vacuum package it and make sure it is retail ready, even with prices already labeled for stores. There are all types of salmon products, from stuffed to seasoned to ceviche. They even have an onsite test kitchen to try new recipes.
Once everything is packaged and the purchasing orders are finalized, one of three different sized delivery trucks (a big semi, a medium delivery truck and a smaller delivery van) are loaded up. Those trucks can go anywhere in Northern California from Eureka-McKinleyville to Chico-Redding to Reno-Sparks-Tahoe.
Ana’s son, Jonathan Frederico, who works in Lusamerica’s purchasing and selling department, makes sure those orders are frequent and accurate.
“I grew up in the fish business,” said Jonathan, who started by folding and making the delivery boxes, then packaging the product to making deliveries before earning his current duties. “I looked up to all my family members and this was something I always wanted to do. It’s in my blood.”
The business of “buying and selling dead fish,” as Jonathan puts it, has been good to all of them. Ana said she sticks with the administrative side of the business, while Fernando was off to a big purchasing/sales conference call on this particular Tuesday afternoon.
“We are from humble beginnings and we are still a humble company,” Silva stressed. “We all do everything.”
Manufacturing a big part of local industry
Lusamerica is one of a handful of food processing manufactures in town, which also includes Kettle Cuisine, Talamo Foods, Ozuna Foods, Tony’s Kitchen, Patty’s Pantry and Lawson’s Bakery.
Food processing is one of three niches within the local manufacturing sector along with computer components and recreational equipment, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. Altogether, they make up 22 percent of the workforce in Morgan Hill.
“We love Lusamerica,” Ramirez said. “We are excited about the work that they do. We believe they are happy in Morgan Hill, and we want to help them continue to grow and succeed.”
Lusamerica contributes to the more than 500 local food processing jobs that cover about a quarter-million square feet of industry space in Morgan Hill, according to Ramirez.
“Manufacturing is a very important industry for us,” Ramirez said. “In general, we are very proud of our manufacturing roots in the city. They provide great jobs and are a great partner.”
350,000: Pounds of salmon processed per week
250: Lusamerica employees in Morgan Hill
385: Employees company-wide with two other locations, a processing facility in Fife, Washington and a distribution facility in Vernon, Calif.
In addition to Lusamerica, the following food processing companies make Morgan Hill their home, according to city staff:
• Kettle Cuisine: wholesale frozen and refrigerated soup maker. Located at 18675 Madrone Parkway.
• Ozuna Foods: tortilla factory. Located at 180 Cochrane Circle.
• Talamo Foods: wholesale cheese producer. Located at 18675 Madrone Parkway.
• Lawson’s Bakery: a sit-down bakery, restaurant and coffee shop. Located at 15862 Monterey Road.
• Toni’s Kitchen: maker of high-performance protein meals. Located at 16840 Joleen Way.
• Patti’s Pantry: gluten-free bakery serving desserts, sandwiches, pastries and a wide variety of baked goods. Located at 435 Vineyard Town Center.
Total food processing jobs in Morgan Hill: 503
Total square footage of commercial space occupied by food processing companies: 252,642
