Morgan Hill, California, U.S.A.-based wholesaler and distributer Lusamerica Foods has hired former Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Outreach Manager Peter Adame as its new communications and sustainability manager.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Monterey Bay Aquarium has been closed for seven months, and was forced to cut over one-third of its staff earlier in the year, including Adame and others working for its Seafood Watch program. While Adame said he will miss working for the science-based conservation program, he’s looking forward to the impact his new role with Lusamerica will have.
“I’m really going to miss working at such an amazing organization like Seafood Watch,” Adame said in a press release. “But now I can drive more direct change in the seafood industry. Lusamerica distributes over 40 million pounds of seafood a year! While some of the seafood is already coming from sustainable sources, I’m excited to inspire customers to continue expanding their portfolio of sustainable seafood options to help our ocean.”
Lusamerica CEO Fernando Frederico said the company has been engaged with environmental sustainability for some time, but said Adame’s role will amplify this aspect of the firm's work.
“Our team has been talking about how we need someone to help build our brand and spearhead our sustainability initiatives for quite a while,” Frederico said. “We have big plans to expand our local, sustainable seafood offerings from California’s central coast and Peter’s a great fit to help us amplify this new initiative.”
A minority-, family- and woman-owned company, Lusamerica Foods has been operating since 1975. The company has facilities in California and Washington, and trades seafood across the U.S. West Coast seven days a week.
“As a company, we have launched several sustainability initiatives over the years, like redesigning our packaging to replace the heavily-waxed cardboard boxes that are often not recyclable," Frederico said. "We know Peter can help us with future sustainability initiatives and sharing these stories publicly as our new communications and sustainability manager."
Photo courtesy of Peter Adame
