Getting to know Con Panayides

Have you always been a fishmonger, or did you have a different job?

​I have been a fishmonger for over 35 years starting at the age of 14 in my dad's shop in Brunswick and have owned and operated six shops in total over the years including places like Ivanhoe, Saint Helena, Moorabbin, Keilor, Brunswick. I owned my first store in Brunswick when I turned 17 with my older sister.

What inspired your family to set up your business and how long has it been going?

I joined my current business partner (Anthony) two years ago as I was working for him, and he owns 2 boats which include a longline scale fish boat and a pot lobster and king crab boat. Anthony and Kelli originally from Portland and Apollo Bay have been commercially fishing for 40 years now and Anthonys' father before him. They also have a retail shop in Williamstown so I saw an opportunity to create something unique where every step of the product is controlled by us personally, I knew that we could offer something above and beyond your standard fish shop. We catch the fish and crabs and crayfish, and we store cook and sell the products also.

No middleman and a strict knowledge of procurement, storage and processing of product guarantee a truly exceptional quality catch to plate range of products that are of the highest standards. Anthony and Kelli, my business partners and a third-generation fishing family from Portland/Apollo Bay truly love and live and breathe the ocean to plate lifestyle delivering some of the best seafood I have ever seen in my 35 odd years selling seafood.

How do you source your seafood and where is it from?

50 per cent or more of the seafood in our counter comes from our boats on any given day and many have joined our Instagram and Facebook pages as we go live from the boats to show case what the boats are catching and targeting each week. Over the years we have also created strong ties with many other fishermen and seafood wholesalers around the country procuring the best and freshest seafood we can for on sale to our loyal customer base.

Why did you choose South Melbourne Market to sell your products?

Because it's the best market in Victoria and we believe the best product should be sold in the best marketplace. 

Do you have a favourite recipe you can share with our readers?

I have the best recipe called a Dry Bake for medium to large fillets of any fish that is fresh and thick for baking. it's so simple yet so perfect for so many types of fresh large fillets it works every time. White wild fish fillets work best!

• lay your choice of fillets on baking paper on an open tray in the oven
• season with salt, pepper and dry oregano
• preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the fish for 17 minutes 
• turn off oven and allow fish to sit
• dress with a good olive oil and lots of fresh lemon.