Michael Messiou
Astakos
Habitat
Michael’s habitat is not defined by a physical environment so much as a felt sense of Home and Family created by the people who occupy it.
Habits
Happy Fish cast the net wide and we feel very lucky to have hooked Michael Messiou of Astakos Seafoods. The Happy Fish Project creates an unbroken supply chain where each and every piece of seafood is tagged & tracked giving unseen levels of transparency & integrity. The fishmonger is an essential and integral part to this process.
Happy Fish LOVES ❤️❤️❤️ Michael because he has a strong ethical framework, he is all about relationships built on trust and is in for the long haul. Michael has a deep understanding and respect for everyone in the seafood supply chain. He has fierce empathy for the people who go out on boats in all weather, sometimes with tiny crews, knowing not everyone always makes it back; and a passion for the creativity and needs of chefs.
Michael’s thrives in the industry which is fast, high-risk, and unforgiving. This drives his obsession with sourcing unique species, supporting producers fairly, and moving fragile produce through the system at pace.
Born in Sydney to a Cypriot mum and a fishmonger dad, Michael’s career deviated from the family path for a period, but the siren song of seafood industry reeled him back. His approach to business is shaped by a respect for his family, his team and especially for fishermen.
For a decade he lived a “double life”, between the creative world of music & structured world of engineering. A drummer at 12, then producer and DJ, running close to a hundred gigs a year while studying and working as an engineer. From there he moved into property development, immersing himself not just in construction but in finance, demographics, design and marketing. Each chapter reinforced the same pattern: take on more than he can chew, then reverse-engineer his way through the problem.
Having watched his father in a trade few people truly understand, and the family seafood business needed help post COVID, Michael sold out of his building projects and went all-in on fish. Since then he’s grown from a single shop into a small, fast-moving retail and wholesale operation, continually reinvesting and treating each new site like a fresh development project.
If there’s a legacy he’s chasing, it’s simple, creating a workplace he loves being in every day, surrounding himself with people who grow with him, and leaving behind a trail of folks who can honestly say, “I learned something from that.”
