Cameron's Seafood Market facts for kids
The original location, and current main office, of Cameron's Seafood Market in Rockville, Maryland
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Quick facts for kids Restaurant information |
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| Established | 1985 |
| Current owner(s) | Allen and Bijan Manesh |
| Food type | Seafood |
| Street address | 875 Hungerford Drive (main office) |
| City | Rockville, Maryland |
| County | Montgomery |
| State | Maryland |
| Postal/ZIP code | 20850 |
| Country | United States |
| Multiple locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania | |
Cameron's Seafood Market is a popular group of restaurants and a seafood delivery service. It started in 1985 in Rockville, Maryland, as a small family shop. Over time, it grew to have many stores, food trucks, and even ships seafood all over the United States. Cameron's is known for selling a lot of Maryland Blue Crabs and crab cakes. They sell over 150,000 crab cakes and 75,000 bushels of live blue crabs every year! They have served more than a million customers. In 2017, Forbes magazine even called their seafood one of the "Best Food Gifts."
Contents
The Story of Cameron's Seafood
Cameron's Seafood was started in 1985 by Allen Manesh. He came to the United States from Iran in 1975. Allen first worked in real estate. He wanted to start another business to earn more money.
He bought some land in Rockville and first tried to open a fruit stand with his brother Bijan. After learning more and getting advice from a sea captain, he decided to open a seafood market instead. He named it after his first son, Cameron.
Over the years, the business grew a lot. It added more restaurant locations and several food trucks. They also started delivering seafood to other businesses. By 2017, Cameron's had about a dozen locations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. This included four food trucks.
Where the Crabs Come From
Cameron's works directly with crabbers (people who catch crabs) and seafood suppliers. Most of their crabs are caught in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Each morning, the crabs are sent to the Rockville location. There, they are sorted and cooked, mostly by steaming.
The company has a special "True Blue Maryland Crab Meat" ranking. This comes from the Maryland Department of Agriculture. During Maryland's off-season for crabs (from December to March), Cameron's gets crabs from other places. These crabs are either flash-frozen from earlier in the season or shipped from states like North Carolina, Florida, Texas, or Louisiana.
Popular Store Locations
The store that earns the most money for Cameron's is in Capital Heights. This location makes about $3.5 million each year. It is located across from the football stadium, FedExField. When the Washington Redskins football team plays, the store's business goes up by 50%. Fans often buy a bushel of crabs to enjoy at the game.
Selling Seafood Online
In June 2017, Allen's son Cameron (who was 37) and his cousin Peymon (who was 28) started a new part of the business. They launched an online store to sell seafood. Their goal was to take orders online and ship seafood all across the United States.
You can buy both raw and cooked seafood from their website. They also offer ingredients and recipes. Cameron, who also leads the family's real estate business, studied business management and finance at the University of Maryland.
The online sales for Cameron's Seafood were expected to reach $2.1 million in 2018. The online business has eight full-time employees. It also works with more than a dozen teams of fishermen. They have their own special facility to prepare the food.
Seafood shipments go to all 50 states. They are very popular with people from Maryland who have moved away. Athletes and people on high-protein diets also enjoy ordering from Cameron's. For example, former NBA basketball star Gilbert Arenas regularly ordered $2,000 worth of crab meat each month. In 2017, Forbes magazine included Cameron's on its list of "Best Food Gifts."
See also
- List of seafood restaurants
