FARMERS: Kiem Nguyễn & Family

LOCATION: San Francisco, Ca

CONTACT:

SELL: Wide variety of fresh-caught, wild & farm raised seafood dependent on weather and season

WHEN: Sunday & Wednesday, year-round

Kiem Nguyen and his family are from Vietnam, where they worked as fishermen. They immigrated to California to make a better life for their children and in the first few years supported themselves by selling garlic on the streets of Chinatown and fishing to supplement the family’s food budget. Kiem noticed something about Linda, his sister, during this time... she was a great saleswoman. This sparked an idea and a business was born.

For years the family had been fishing for their own food, so they decided to sell the fish they caught door-to door. Once they saved enough money, they bought a car so they could drive to Monterey to fish on a wider scale. They eventually transitioned from selling door-to-door to selling their catch in farmers markets. At first, their warehouse was located under their house in their garage. But as they continued to save money generated from their growing family business, they eventually made enough to purchase a warehouse in San Francisco in the mid 1980s.

Today, a second generation of five sons and daughters help run Kiem’s Seafood, and a third generation of little ones come to play in the warehouse like their parents before them.