Since 1973 Roy and Bonnie Axelson have dedicated their lives to serving Chicago’s best restaurants, specialty food stores, clubs, and hotels with the finest food products available.

Incorporated in 1981, Seafood Merchants distributes fresh seafood, frozen seafood products, specialty meats, and gourmet foods. Since its founding, the company’s philosophy has always been to have top-of the-line, hard-to-find items, as well as the freshest seafood in the Chicagoland area. Always exceeding industry standards, The Seafood Merchants is credited by many of Chicago’s chefs as always delivering the finest seafood in the Midwest.

Begun as a sole proprietorship by a former quality control specialist, The Seafood Merchants grew from a dream in one man’s garage in Deerfield to a modern 20,000 square foot processing facility in Vernon Hills. The key to this astonishing growth can be greatly attributed to Roy’s and Bonnie’s strong work ethic and unending commitment to service and quality. Truly, the Axelsons’ efforts have involved a great deal of personal sacrifice—developing their business has become a life-long project and dream realized. Their goal has always been to serve the Chicago community through providing not only the highest quality products, but also in educating chefs and the public at large about seafood and its benefits. They pride themselves on having brought the level of seafood quality in Chicago to a higher standard. In addition, Bonnie and Roy have worked to create a workplace that reflects their personal commitment to excellence and individual attention. One way that they have done this is through encouraging family involvement in the business. Not only have their own children worked for their company, many of the employees at The Seafood Merchants work with their in-laws, brothers, and other relations. This unique environment allows for a greater commitment to servicing employees and to working together as a team.

Quality and Innovation in Products

Perhaps one of the most obvious talents that both Bonnie and Roy possess is their ability to recognize emerging needs for products and to find superb sources for those products. It is not unusual for a chef to call for a product no one has ever seen in Chicago and for our sales staff to deliver it to them in a matter of a few days. It is this innovation that drives them to find fantastic and reliable sources in areas as varied as Costa Rica and New Zealand, to those as remote as Prince Edward Island in Newfoundland. It is from these destinations that Seafood Merchants transforms the Chicago market by introducing "special" products into standard menu items at some of Chicago’s finest restaurants. Capitalizing on O’Hare Airport’s position as the world’s busiest airport, The Seafood Merchants is direct a importer of Dover Sole from the Netherlands, Smoked Salmon from Norway and Scotland, and wild species from New Zealand.

It is also this quality of product that has led Seafood Merchants to expand its delivery area. In addition to the Chicago area, we also service over 30 restaurants in Milwaukee several times a week and ship to restaurants and distributors around the country. The reputation for quality results in calls from chefs around the country, who order for special parties and requests. Though outside their Chicagoland service area, Roy or Bonnie quickly coordinates with an airline to guarantee the shipment’s delivery.

Service

Seafood Merchants is synonymous with service. With daily deliveries and Sunday pick-ups, we attempt to never leave a chef’s needs unfulfilled. Going above and beyond their competitors and industry standards, it is not unusual for us to deliver fish on evenings, holidays, and even on their way to their own personal engagements. Bonnie and Roy are known by their friends to be late to parties and gatherings because "they had to make a special delivery." This past summer, one chef joked with Roy (who was dressed in a tuxedo on his way to a wedding), saying, "he is the best-dressed seafood delivery man I’ve ever seen."

Every player on our "team" is devoted to customer service. Our sales staff is committed to making each customer feel special and to guaranteeing that each order is filled beyond the customer’s satisfaction. Our drivers take great pride in knowing the individual tastes of our customers, and packing the fish according to the customers’ specifications. Our drivers work long, hard hours making sure Seafood Merchant’s customers get exactly what they want when they want it. Each member of warehouse crew takes pride in his ability to keep an eye on quality and efficiency, from the care he takes in checking a shipment of tuna to the delicate touch he uses to portion individual fish fillets. And our accounting team takes pride in service, too. Our accounts receivable keeps in close contact with the customers, making sure they are billed correctly and that they are on schedule with their payments so we can continue to guarantee them excellent prices and service. Our accounts payable department is meticulous, working long hours to make sure our suppliers are paid on time, which in turn guarantees our ability to continue to get great fish from all over the world.

Industry Standard

Seafood Merchants is also a model for the way a food distributor can cooperate with government regulators. Chicago area FDA inspectors routinely bring visiting inspectors to Seafood Merchants to illustrate what the ideal food processing environment should look like. Drawing on her experience as a registered nurse, Bonnie maintains the processing areas of the company as stringently as she would a hospital. In addition to FDA regulators, The Seafood Merchants Ltd. is also visited by local competitors who come to learn about seafood processing standards. Although it might seem odd, Bonnie and Roy welcome these competitors’ visits in hopes of increasing the overall quality of the seafood industry in the area.

Community Outreach

It is also important to point out that Roy and Bonnie feel a strong commitment to the food and restaurant industry in general. They believe that part of their role in the community is to help people understand the benefits of seafood and to aid them in learning more about the industry and about the products themselves. Roy has been a guest several times on WBEZ’s public affairs radio program, and Bonnie does guest lectures at Evanston’s Kendall College. They have an extensive collection of books and resources on Seafood, and routinely lend books to chefs and local journalists. They also have a test kitchen which has been used countless times to demonstrate products to staff and clients. Roy and Bonnie also routinely donate this space for use in cooking shows for local cable networks. Finally, Roy and Bonnie donate hundreds of pounds of product to various charity organizations and benefits to benefit Chicago’s homeless and disadvantaged populations.

Commitment to Employees

Because of its commitment to quality, Seafood Merchants has high expectations from its employees. In the highly competitive seafood market, it is necessary for all employees to dedicate a their personal energies to maintaining high quality service and giving careful attention to even the most minute details of their client’s needs. In return for their efforts, employees at the Seafood Merchants are given an equal commitment not only financially, but also through the close relationships that exist within the company. Seafood Merchants is a true family company. The close relationship of the employees is exemplified by personalized birthday gifts, quarterly employee parties, and annual trips to seafood shows and suppliers. Regardless of function, all employees are treated equally and made to feel special by Bonnie and Roy.