January 12, 2021 — The following was released by Lund’s Fisheries:
Lund’s Fisheries is excited to announce the hiring of four new senior executives and two additional sales and marketing staff. The hires are the company’s latest investment in sustainable seafood production and marketing through its Lund’s Fisheries and Sea Legend brands.
“These new hires, in our sales, cold storage/logistics and quality assurance departments, are key to the company’s focus on continued growth of its production capacity and sales of innovative seafood products in the retail and food service sectors,” said Wayne Reichle, President of Lund’s Fisheries.
Joining the company are Mark Fratiello as its new Director of Sales and Marketing, Mike Wallace and John Fee as National Business Development Managers, Federico Sehringer as Compliance Officer and Quality Assurance Director, Joshua Farinella as Director of Compliance and Quality Assurance, and Gene Taormina as General Manager at Shoreline Freezers, located in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Mark comes to Lund’s with an extensive sales background, including 10 years of experience in seafood sales and marketing. In his role at Lund’s, Mark will lead the company’s seasoned sales team, comprised of Jeff Miller, Mike Wallace, Rick Marino and John Fee, to grow their fresh and frozen scallop, calamari, shrimp, finfish and value-added lines, working with a national broker to drive national sales to broadline distributors, restaurants, wholesale distributors, and retail.
“I’m excited to be with a company that’s looking to expand its reach in volume, sales channels, and infrastructure,” said Mark Fratiello. “It’s great to get in on the ground floor to help build the brands, and create new opportunities for the company to grow. Lund’s investments in vessels and shoreside infrastructure provide an incredible foundation to build successful national seafood programs and bring consumers direct to the source.”
With its Lund’s Fisheries, Seafood Market and Sea Legend brands, Lund’s Fisheries is already a leading provider of sustainable, wild-caught sea scallops, calamari and finfish; the company harvested over 75 million pounds of seafood last year alone. Atlantic sea scallops and East Coast squid fisheries are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, which is an important selling point for consumers in a market increasingly interested in sustainability. Additionally Lund’s is one of just a few domestic processors that clean calamari domestically, and offers customers products that have been both caught and processed in the U.S.
“Onboarding a national broker with a company that has more than 65 years of vertically integrated seafood experience is an exciting time in my career and a great opportunity to achieve Lund’s Fisheries strategic goals,” said Mike Wallace.
“I am happy to be associated with Lund’s, a company focused on sustainable fishing practices and centrally located in the Mid Atlantic, and geared towards producing the highest quality seafood for the food service industry,” said John Fee.
Federico and Joshua will be part of an expanded quality assurance team, where they will ensure that the products processed at our SQF-certified facilities continue to meet all regulations and standards, and that the high quality of our consumer products are maintained. Both bring years of experience in quality control to Lund’s. Federico has 18 years of food safety and quality control, both in the U.S. and Argentina. Joshua has 14 years of experience in several quality assurance roles.
“I’ve worked in retail, storage and distribution, and production. I’m glad to have the opportunity to work with a company that is able to do all of these things under one roof,” said Federico Sehringer.
“I’m ready to help the company take things to the next level,” said Joshua Farinella. “We have a strong foundation and reputation for quality to build on, and the right building blocks for continued success.”
While 2020 has been challenging for many, Lund’s Fisheries has continued investing in growing shoreside infrastructure to support sustainable fisheries, fishing vessels, and generational relationships with fishing families home-ported in Cape May, New Jersey. In mid-2021, Lund’s looks to break ground on a new 90,000 square foot cold and dry storage addition to its Shoreline Freezers facility. This investment will include additional processing space as well, which will help facilitate growth in sales.
“Lund’s methodical approach, vision and investment in state of the art equipment and facilities will advance the company’s distribution of sustainable seafood,” said Gene Taormina.
With production facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts and California, 19 fishing vessels owned directly by the principals of the company, as well as the many independent owner/operated vessels the company works with, Lund’s welcomes its new team members and looks forward to continued growth in the harvest, production and marketing of sustainable seafood.