Meet Master Filleters: Edgar and Ricardo Olivo

While Kim and I, the founders of Get Hooked, are not family per se, Get Hooked still feels like a 'family business' to me in so many ways... it's a way to engage with, and tell the stories of, fishing families - my own included. We are also very proud to bring food to family tables. But perhaps the way it feels most like a family business is because of the Olivo family that has made Get Hooked possible for many years.

I met Edgar and Ricardo Olivo when I was 22, working for the City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Department. I was pregnant with my first child, and attending SBCC to work towards my Bachelor's degree in Political Science. I was also taking Spanish classes. Edgar and Ricardo (along with their brother, Adan), worked for the Santa Barbara Fish Market at the time, and they'd often come into the Waterfront Office for quarters to use the fish hoists to offload boats. While I was attempting to learn Spanish, they were working on their English, and we took these opportunities to practice with each other. Mostly, they graciously allowed me to practice my Spanish, stumbling poorly through conversation, but with their smiling encouragement I felt supported and kept trying, even earning an award from my teacher. (I wish I could say I gained proficiency, but alas, I did not...) After a few years, I left the Waterfront Office to attend UCSB full-time. Edgar and Ricardo moved on from the Fish Market to work for SB Stone Crab, and we did not meet again for some many years to come....

When Covid struck the world, and supply chains got turned on their head, we had to move operations abruptly and bring our processing back in-house. I called the Olivo brothers to ask about hiring them as fish cutters (a very specific skill that takes years for mastery) and they agreed. For a while, they kept their day jobs with SB Stone Crab and came to our kitchen on the nights we had fish to cut. It was like having elves... We'd leave the fish whole in totes, and then the next day it was neatly cut and everything was cleaned up. After about a year of this arrangement, Edgar asked to come work with us full-time and we were so happy to oblige. I have been endlessly grateful for the Olivo family over the years to follow. We currently have 3 brothers that do the majority of the work to buy the fish and get it processed and sent out to our members... Edgar, Ricardo, and Felix. Edgar is always laughing and has an infectiously positive attitude about life that keeps everyone smiling; Ricardo is the dedicated father of 4, an amazing soccer coach, and a huge shutterbug, and Felix was a biology teacher who is always tinkering and finding things to repair. At times of extra need, Ricardo's son, Melchor, joins the team as well, when he's not studying engineering at SBCC.

Get Hooked is a really complex business. We joke sometimes that a business model built on supplying an extremely perishable product, promising an ever-changing variety, with a reliance on favorable weather conditions, is absolutely ludicrous. I'm sure many of you have received apologetic emails from Michael Cox, our fantastic customer service rep/office manager/bookkeeper/delivery driver/etc. (yes, he wears a crazy number of hats!), apologizing for logistical shortcomings when things don't quite come together. It is not an exaggeration to say that without the Olivo family (and Michael!), I would have walked away from Get Hooked long ago. They have supported me so completely and turned Get Hooked into a well-oiled machine. They really make Get Hooked into a family business in the truest sense of the term and I couldn't be more proud that they have chosen to work with us.

With gratitude,

Victoria