Rob George, President

A man who simply doesn’t take “no” for an answer, there were many people who thought Rob George’s idea of flying live crab into the mainland U.S. wouldn’t work. He began his seafood career alongside his wife, opening a retail fish market in Santa Cruz, California. With a growing customer base, they thought that it would be a great addition to be able to offer fresh cooked crab to their customers. Who knew that, from the moment they decided to fly-in live Dungeness Crab, the largest supplier of Alaska Crab would be born?

In search of another source of live Dungeness Crab for his Santa Cruz-based fish market, Rob was introduced via phone to Richard Osterman, who was then shipping live King Crab and Snow Crab to Japan. Their initial conversation was that Richard wasn’t interested in Dungeness Crab and Rob wasn’t interested in live King Crab. They immediately became friends and a week later, Rob flew to Dutch Harbor to meet the man with whom he obviously wouldn’t be doing business. Two weeks later, Rob was shipping fresh cooked Alaska King Crab out of Dutch Harbor to the mainland U.S.

Over the next several years, Rob built a loyal following of buyers for his Alaska Red King Crab and he’s expanded into even more varieties of crab to satisfy his clients’ palates. He’s never wavered from his belief in 100% traceability for his product. He buys directly from specific fishing vessels and the same shore-based processor in Alaska and delivers product directly to homes and restaurants across the country with strict accountability standards for source and freshness.

Sustainability is a vital component of Rob’s vision for The Crab Broker as well. Along with their high standards for quality control, Rob makes sure that they are constantly up-to-date in complying with and supporting sustainable and ethical fishing practices. He’s delighted to have built a company with a conscience that consistently delivers a superior seafood product while supporting the environment. There’s no end in sight to the research and development component of The Crab Broker’s operations.

Rob loves to travel to visit customers, suppliers and to seek out different species of crab to bring to the marketplace. He also hosts the highly regarded Crab Connoisseur Tour each October.