As you drive west on Kalifornsky Beach road off Alaska's Highway 1, it sparks a sense of wonder for those making the trek. The winter solstice season prompts a reliance on all of your senses. The peaceful quiet of winter settling in, the new snow sparkling with the reflection of your headlights, the intensity of the cold on ones face and hands, the brilliance of the moonlight over Cook Inlet and the majestic volcanos revealing themselves during the daylight. You know you are driving by the mouth of the famous Kenai River and get clues by the birds and wildlife that abound.
Off to your left you'll see a light with a sign telling you that you've arrived at the storefront of Kenai Fish. It is a worthy stop to introduce yourself and meet or re-introduce yourself to Nate Berga, Owner/Operator. Kenai is home to Nate and his family. He intentionally has created the Kenai Fish culture to be home to its customers, as well. It is not simply a transactional storefront, but rather where customers feel comfortable consistently returning to be called by their first name and genuinely welcomed. Whether it is a session on solving meal or menu planning solutions for commercial or individual buyers, shopping for gifts, dropping off a special order of "sport caught" for processing - the business is soundly built on the relationship they have with their customers.
As you will see in our conversation below, Nate has a strong sense of community and family that he makes integral to his business. You can hear Nate explain who he is, what he does and what makes his business unique. Spoiler alert - he has 25+ years of professional experience in Alaska's seafood business.
"Two important things are to have a genuine interest in people and to be kind to them. Kindness, I've discovered, is everything." – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Author
As we see in the conversation with Nate, there are a number of unique and enduring characteristics of his business, including the kindness he exhibits consistently, day in and day out with his stakeholders. Maybe this is a throwback to the personal, caring and accountable small businesses who knew your name, remembered your last order and offered up ways to provide more value and made you feel special. Whatever it is, Kenai Fish embodies a business in full collaboration mode, 100 percent of the time and where it genuinely feels like home.
Kenai Fish Website
38664 Kalifornsky Beach Road
Kenai, AK 99611
The Old Snug Harbor Seafoods Plant
Tel: 907-283-FISH (3474)