Manila's top restaurants secret seafood supplier

If you asked what Shalom “Twinkle” Floro does, the simple answer would be “seafood wholesaler.”

- AVANT GARDENER YVETTE TAN

After all, Seafood by Twinkle has become the go-to for supermarkets, chefs, and restaurateurs wanting to purchase sustainably caught reef fish from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. Floro specializes in wild-caught seafood, which is “seafood that's caught every day by specific kinds of fishermen from specific areas.”

“I make sure that from when they're caught, it arrives in less than 24 hours to the customers,” she said.

I mentioned Floro in my Oct. 31, 2024 column where I wrote about the ice plants whose construction she spearheaded in some far-flung fishing communities.

After catering to a mainly Mindanaoan clientele, Floro recently expanded her reach to Manila. Her clients are mainly chefs and restaurateurs who run high-end restaurants and who put a premium on ingredient quality, freshness, and sustainability.

This isn’t a simple buy-and-sell situation. A huge chunk of Floro’s success stems from her ability to navigate Mindanao fishing communities and the world of fine dining. This is because Floro’s family has been in the seafood business for 45 years. Her grandmother, who started ICA Trading Corporation, was one of a group of women who started and organized the fish brokerage system that exists in Mindanao to this day.