For Kostas (Kon) Giannoukas and his son, Savva, the working day begins at 3.30am because that is the time when they are out buying fresh Australian sea food from the Melbourne Seafood Centre in Kensington, one of their sources of quality produce from the sea.
The father-and-son duo run Out of the Blue Seafoods at Melbourne’s iconic Queen Victoria Market which was launched in 1984 by Kon’s father, Savva, from Stall 37 in the market’s Meat and Fish Hall where it has remained operating to this day.
The family operated a fish wholesale business from the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market on Footscray Road in the 1970s and it supplied the city hospitality industry and fish and chops with fresh seafood produce. Kon’s father, who came to Australia from Leros in 1954, also ran a retail stall at Queen Victoria Market at that time.
“I was working at the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market from 18 years of age,” said Kon Giannoukas. “Dad ran Out of the Blue Seafoods for two years before I took it over,” said Mr Giannoukas.
As the reputation of the business grew, a loyal customer base has developed that has been drawn by the produce available that is always fresh and caught wild in Australian waters. It is not fish-farmed produce.
“We work a four-day week – the stall is open Tuesday to Saturday from 6am to 3pm. Either my son, Savva, or I are always on hand to ensure that there is fresh produce available every day and we rotate the produce to keep things fresh. People keep coming because they know that what we offer is fresh and of good quality,” he said.
“The Queen Victoria Market is a nice place to be at, to meet people and to develop one-one-one relationships with our customers – it’s not like buying fish from the supermarket. Our customers are like family to us, and we often socialise with them after business,” said Mr Giannoukas.
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The crayfish that are so popular particularly at Christmas may come from King Island, Tasmania, Port Faery and South Australia. Prawns are sourced wild from South Australia and King Prawns from Queensland, white salmon from Tasmania.
Calamari is caught in Victorian waters and octopus, which is particularly popular at Easter is from South Australia.
“We offer a big variety but we do have a basic list to draw from. It depends on what is available. The best sellers are snappers, King George whiting, flathead. We have sand crab, Blue swimmer crab, mussels from South Australia. Sometimes, depending on the time of year, we will also offer live crayfish and mud crabs.”
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Mr Giannoukas said the fish are cut prepared under his or Savva’s supervision.
“People trust Savva and me to give them what they need,” he said.
We also stock a variety of high-quality seafood such as Japanese scallops, Australian scallops, peeled King Prawn cutlets and people should know that we also shuck fresh oysters daily,” said Savva.
“We also supply a fresh daily variety of sashimi including salmon, yellowfin tuna and yellowtail kingfish.”
