Locals Seafood brings the coast to the Triangle every day
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Photo: Zachery Eanes/Axios
Ryan Speckman's day begins around 6am, when he starts firing calls and texts to fishermen up and down the North Carolina coast — What did you reel in? How many pounds do you have? he asks.
- So begins the daily dance and logistical puzzle of bringing fresh seafood from the state's sounds and coastal waters to the Triangle's restaurants and grocery stores.
Why it matters: Locals Seafood, which Speckman co-founded with Lin Peterson in 2010, has been one of the most influential players in the Triangle's food scene since it launched as a roadside fishmonger selling North Carolina shrimp.
- Next week it will open a market in Raleigh where customers can purchase fresh fish onsite.
Locals Seafood is still one of the few places selling only North Carolina-caught fish in the Triangle and throughout the state.
- Over the years, they've also helped educate consumers on the quality of North Carolina fish that had been traditionally overlooked — like sheepshead, black drum and mullet — or served under different names for years.
- "It took us about 10 years to really build up the demand" for sheepshead, Speckman said, because no one really had experience eating it anymore.
Driving the news: Next Saturday, Locals Seafood will debut a 10,000-square-foot processing and cold storage facility and market in East Raleigh that will be one of the largest inland fish processing facilities in the state.
- The space triples the business's capacity to process seafood.
- From there, multiple vans will traverse every day to the Northern Outer Banks, Southern Outer Banks and the Wilmington area to pick up fish, shrimp and oysters from local operations.
- That same day, workers in Raleigh will fillet and prepare the fish for delivery to restaurants, grocery stores and Locals' own storefronts for the next day.
What they're saying: "If you go and you see our fish display, that's what's actually being caught in North Carolina right now," Speckman told Axios, pointing out some black drum and a tuna collar.
- "You can't say that about other fish displays" in the area, he added.
State of play: Locals now delivers fish throughout the Triangle, parts of the Triad and Asheville. The mountain town's thriving restaurant scene has been a particular source of growth in the past year.
- 90% of its sales are wholesale to restaurants, Whole Foods, the Durham Co-op and Weaver Street Markets.
What's next: Locals plans to hold classes at its grand opening on shucking an oyster, filleting a fish, cleaning a softshell crab and deveining shrimp.
- In the future, it plans to open a space next to its facility where customers can eat food or hang out in a beer garden.
Address: 1408 Corporation Pkwy., in East Raleigh