Aquatic Industry: SFBB President Andy Schmidt Passes Away at 68

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San Francisco Bay Brand (SFBB) has released the following statement:

Andy (Andreas) Schmidt, president at San Francisco Bay Brand, passed away on December 30, 2021 at his home in Russia. Many will miss him as president of San Francisco Bay Brand, friend, mentor, husband and brother.

Born on October 9, 1953, Andy was very passionate about the Aquarium and Aquaculture community and took over San Francisco Bay Brand, which his father, Anton, started over 50 years ago. He developed it into the premier retail brand serving the aquatic hobby. As many knew, Andy was a perfectionist that wanted to make the best product, run the best company, and be the best person he could be.

Anton Schmidt and his family emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1955. Having been trained as a tool and die maker Anton found employment in a small firm in Los Altos, Calif., repairing aquariums. Schmidt and his wife, Martha, worked there for two years before opening their own aquarium manufacturing business in 1957 called Schmidt’s Aquarium (which became part of Metaframe), before purchasing the San Francisco Bay Brand division from Mattel.

By the late 1970s, Andreas operated SFBB’s San Diego, Salt Lake and Salton Sea facilities, which supported research and harvest for their aquaculture business.

In the early 1980s, he initiated research projects to develop several convenient forms of highly nutritious natural formulated diets to meet fishes’ specific nutritional needs.

Andreas became president of San Francisco Bay Brand, Inc. in 1992, where he continued to be a leader in serving the pet and aquaculture industries. He was responsible for introducing frozen fish food cubes to the United States as a standard in 1994. From 1999 to 2003, he served as the president of The World Wide Pet Supply Association and the Pet Care Trust Association.

In 1999, Andreas opened their first China factory in Tianjin, and in 2004 set out to build a new factory, along with SFBB’s biologist Steven Geerts. This allowed SFBB to carry out their high processing and quality control standards. This makes SFBB the only US-based producer of frozen fish food to own and operate their factory in China.

Andy is survived by his brother Tony, wife Yana, stepsons Dev and Boris. A funeral for Andy took place on December 31, 2021, and he was buried near his home in Russia.

San Francisco Bay Brand will move forward using the high standards and quality products Andy dedicated his life to creating.