Beaver Street Fisheries Chairman Harry Frisch dies at 99

Hans "Harry" Fritsch

Beaver Street Fisheries Chairman Hans “Harry” Frisch has died at 99.

Frisch helped build Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.-based Beaver Street from a small retail fish shop into one of the largest seafood companies in the country, with annual sales of more than USD 500 million (EUR 464 million).

Beaver Street Fisheries imports, manufactures, and distributes frozen seafood products from domestic sources and from around the world. The company’s brands include its flagship Sea Best, offering frozen fish, shellfish and specialty products; Tropic Seafood, the largest lobster and seafood processor in the Bahamas; and HF’s Outstanding, a line of premium beef, pork, poultry and lamb that is cut and packaged for wholesale food service customers. The company completed a USD 4.9 million (EUR 4.4 million) renovation of its 300,000-square-foot seafood-packaging facility in Jacksonville in 2022. The company found success pivoting to retail during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to his obituary, Frisch emigrated to the United States from Austria via Israel, and worked for Beaver Street for more than 70 years, as he continued to work until three days before his passing on 13 January.

“Beaver Street Fisheries grew through much hard work – it was a labor of love for the family and succeeded through good and hard times,” his obituary read.

“He built his business with a focus on family, integrity, and a drive to ensure his customers had a consistent supply of seafood. In an industry so often focused on just-in-time inventory, he famously emphasized thinking five years, not five days ahead,” National Fisheries Institute President and CEO Lisa Wallenda Picard said in a statement. “His influence is outsized, and he will be missed.”

Photo courtesy of Beaver Street Fisheries

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