Robert Amar had a solid business wholesaling seafood to some of Philly’s finest restaurants — until March 2020. As COVID-19 spread and city restaurants shuttered, Amar wondered what he could do. He had fresh fish on hand. Grocery stores were insane. He figured his Fairmount neighbors might appreciate some free seafood, so he sent a group email to residents of his block and found some takers. They raved about the fish.
Small World Seafood (SWS) found its new footing with trusting customers willing to buy fish sight unseen: 11 orders the first week, 20 the second, 40 the third. In those early days, there were typically six to eight items on offer. Five years later, SWS features online recipes, cooking videos and 80-some weekly items for sale. Seafood is the star, but options also include specialty foods from local businesses such as Settantatre Pasta, El Camino Real and Oui.
Small World’s reinvention grew out of Amar’s desire to feed his neighbors “great quality at a very great price.” But then he began to wonder: “Technically, who is a neighbor? Is it just the people on my block?” The business, though built on the savvy use of technology, grew in a startlingly old-fashioned way. Amar’s neighbors told their friends, who told their friends, and demand rippled across the city. This “neighborhood business” now reaches 11,000 email subscribers (with an open rate of 78%) and serves more than 4,000 households monthly from six pickup sites, two farmers markets and a storefront on North 4th Street. “Everybody in Philly is my neighbor,” Amar says.
Selling directly to consumers took some adjustment. “A lot of the intuitive thoughts we had from our way of thinking with restaurants turned upside down,” Amar recalls. Restaurants usually limit their purchases to popular items like salmon, mussels and shrimp. Amar sensed that his customers were willing to experiment, so he promoted less familiar ingredients such as skate wing, cod cheeks and mackerel — and saw demand soar. “We were testing this out to see if this is a floating ice cube or an iceberg,” he remembers.
What surprises Amar is how the business has continued to thrive post-pandemic. He jokes that SWS has “ruined people” by introducing them to expertly-curated, restaurant-quality ingredients and professional cooking tips. Tired-looking supermarket fish has lost its appeal.
The SWS crew makes pickup a social occasion, greeting customers by name, answering questions, sharing jokes. “There’s nothing that brings people together and makes them pause more than food,” says Amar. Customers remain willing to order online and trek to the Small World Seafood truck for pickup. They bring visiting friends and family and share travel photos.
Clearly this is more than a simple business transaction. For Amar, “the goal is not bing, bang, boom, move the line along. It’s to be a good citizen … I think we haven’t fully realized our connections to each other. Once you know each other’s name, you’re not the same thing anymore.”
Every month Grid profiles a Philadelphian who is passionate about food. If you would like to nominate someone for the Philly Cooks series, contact news@gridphilly.com.
