Article appeared in issue 2, 2022
Ireland at SEG 2022
At Seafood Expo Global 2022, 24 Irish companies will exhibit on the Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) Origin Green pavilion, Hall 3 D201 and D401. See what Ireland has to offer
Atlanfish
Established in 1976, Atlanfish is a 100% family-owned and managed company, which specialises in cooked, premium shellfish. All of its products go to export markets in Europe and Asia and Atlanfish also has a subsidiary office in France.
The company’s extensive product range comprises chilled, pasteurised and frozen formats, including: whole crab (pasteurised and frozen); crab claws; brown meat and roe and white crab meat. Pouches and trays in a variety of sizes are available to suit all customer requirements. Approximately 90% of the products are sold in a branded format, under the L’Irlandaise, Cashelmara, La Celtique and Molly Malone brands. The remaining 10% is sold under private label. Atlanfish operates a stringent quality management programme (holding BRCGS accreditation) with only the finest-quality raw materials selected for processing and all are controlled under the strictest hygiene conditions. The company prides itself on offering its customers a fresh option all year round with its range of premium seafood products, which can be traced from plate to source. Company processing facilities are equipped with the latest production technology. atlanfish.com
Bantry Premium Seafoods
Bantry Bay Premium Irish Mussels specialises in providing mussels, famed the world over for their exceptional quality and flavour. The firm was established in Bantry, Co. Cork, in 1991. From its base on the shores of Bantry Bay, it has grown to supply premium-quality Irish shellfish, fresh from the Atlantic, to partners across the world who, according to the company, appreciate the exceptional standard of produce it offers. Bantry Bay takes pride in every aspect of its business – from the deep sea to the plate – which is reflected in its high standards and attention to detail. The award-winning company has patented an innovative technique for processing shellfish. Right there, on the shores of Bantry Bay, freshly-harvested, top-quality mussels are vacuum packed, cooked and frozen with all the natural juices retained. bantrybaypremiumseafoods.com
Carlingford Oyster Company
Carlingford Oyster Company was established in 1974 by Peter Louët Feisser, and is currently managed by his son, Kian and daughter-in-law, Mary. It employs 18 full-time and part-time staff and produces 300 tonnes or 3,000,000 oysters annually. Its oysters are exported to the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland. The Carlingford Oyster Company purifies its oysters in a new, state-of-the-art purification facility. This allows the oysters to be packed and sent directly to restaurants and customers from the shores of Carlingford Lough, preserving their unique flavour and freshness. Carlingford Oyster Company is Ecopact and Origin Green-certified. It was awarded the gold medal at the 2015 Cloudy Bay UK Oyster Tasting Championships. In 2016 and 2017, it won two gold stars at the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards, three gold stars in 2018 and two gold stars in 2019. It also took home a silver star at the Blas na hÉireann awards in 2017 and 2021 and gold star in 2020. Carlingford Oyster Company won another three stars in the 2020 and 2021 Great Taste Awards and the company took home the Great Taste Golden Fork for Ireland in 2021. carlingfordoystercompany.ie
Connemara Seafoods
With over 150 years’ experience in the shellfish industry, family-owned Connemara Seafoods is a leading premium seafood specialist in Ireland. Based on the west coast, it processes a diverse range of shellfish, in both a live and cooked offering. Cooked products are produced in chilled, pasteurised, organic and frozen formats. All products are exported to leading global retailers, food service distributers and secondary processors across Europe, Asia and the US and it has sales and support offices across Europe, Asia (Qingdao, Shanghai, Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh) and in the US. The company’s Food Safety and HACCP plan is underpinned with a raft of accreditations, including BRC at higher lever and FDA approval, and its sustainability plan is underpinned by Origin Green, MSC, ECO standard to ISO 14001. Connemara Seafoods is dedicated to harvesting the very best raw material from the cleanest waters of Ireland. connemaraseafoods.com
Errigal Bay
Errigal Bay has been processing premium quality shellfish since 1962. Situated in the northwest of Ireland, certified to the highest food-quality standards, Errigal Bay export products including langoustine, whelk, crab and king scallop from the purest North Atlantic waters to a global market of discerning retailers, wholesalers and foodservice companies. Errigal Bay holds quality control and sustainability central to its corporate ethos, having achieved the most stringent food industry accreditations, including BRC and IFS, and providing its customers with the highest standards of traceability from fishery to fork. As one of the first approved seafood companies under the Irish national sustainability programme, Origin Green, Errigal Bay continues, through innovation, to operate its processing facilities whilst ensuring the sustainability of its local environment and community for future generations. errigalbay.com
Gallagher Bros (Fish Merchants) Ltd
Gallagher Bros is strategically located in Ireland’s premier fishing port of Killybegs. Its products are sourced in rich, clean, pollution-free fishing grounds off the North
Atlantic Coast. Family management and control means the company is committed, as well as providing a fast and flexible response to customer needs. Consistent high quality and freshness are ensured by direct landings of catches to quayside plants with the latest processing and freezing techniques, as well as on-site cold-storage capacity. Established in 1919, the company specialises in mackerel, herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting, sprats and boarfish. Its products include: whole round, head on, filleted, gutted and marinated herring flaps/fillets. The company operates an organic salmon farm in the pristine waters of the Atlantic on the northwest coast of Ireland. It also owns Ocean Farm Ltd, which can produce up to 2,000 tonnes of Irish organic salmon, which is sold as a top-quality product in markets all over the world. The company supplies markets in Europe, Scandinavia, Japan, Russia, West Africa, Egypt, China and North America and all sales are in bulk to secondary processors. Quality accreditations and certifications include Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP), Marine Stewardship Council Chain of Custody, currently on Celtic Sea herring, and Global Trust Certification on organic salmon, and the company is a certified member of the sustainability programme Origin Green.
The Good Fish Company
The Good Fish Company was established by Denis Good in 1988, and is now a second-generation family-run business. Good Fish prides itself on its reputation for sourcing and producing only the highest quality fish. Its location on the southwest coast of Ireland, with close access to the major fishing ports, facilitates the sourcing of the freshest fish from local vessels, daily. The company operates from a purpose-built modern processing facilities in Carrigaline, to bring a wide range of fish products to the retail, trade, export, and foodservice marketplace. The business began in a fishmonger shop and the supply of wet fish over time has evolved into the value-added retail and frozen product range that is now leading its business. Its range includes salmon, cod, Irish organic salmon, haddock, monkfish and pollock. This was achieved by developing strong and successful long-term relationships with suppliers and with a variety of customers in leading retail multiples as well as the foodservice marketplace. Good Fish employs 100 staff and works on being fully integrated by using its own transport fleet
of vans and trucks for collections and deliveries. As a member of the Bord Bia Origin Green programme and an AA BRC-accredited facility, Good Fish has improved on efficiency, reduced energy and water requirements. It also focuses on raw material and packaging sustainability and contributes to the local community. All of the company's endeavours are clearly linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. goodfish.ie
Green Isle Foods
Green Isle Foods is an Irish-owned company and employs 104 people across two sites. Headquartered in Naas, Co, Kildare, its BRC-approved fish processing facility is located in Gurteen, Co Sligo and has been in continuous operation since 1984. Green Isle Foods is the largest purchaser of white fish from the Irish catching sector and processes over 20% of Irish-landed haddock and whiting. Home to Ireland’s No1 fish brand Donegal Catch, the company also supplies international markets with its Green
Isle Seafood brand. Access to fish is a particular strength, and relationships with the leading Irish fishing co-ops are central to its operations. The company works with its coating partner to bread and batter the finest fish. The key channels for Green Isle Foods are foodservice and the domestic market with the brand Donegal Catch. A considerable part of the business is own-label and it exercises expertise in developing niches in these areas. Its site in Gurteen has BRC AA+ accreditation, underpinned by a strong quality and technical culture. The company's quality management approach focuses on the freshest fish being selected for processing, and all of its controls are under the strictest hygiene conditions. It has a full HACCP policy in place and its processing facilities are equipped with the latest production technology. The company prides itself on offering its customers a fresh option all year round with its range of premium seafood products. The company is participating in the Bord Iascaigh Mhara Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) to improve fishery sustainability for Irish haddock, whiting and hake. Green Isle Foods work closely with its fish suppliers to bring you great tasting fish, processed to the highest-quality standards and fully traceable back to the Irish boat. greenisle.ie
Hannigan Live Irish Shellfish
Hannigan’s fishermen place their pots on the seabed, causing no damage to the marine environment. Its shellfish products are caught, carefully handled and stored by very experienced fishermen for markets worldwide. In doing so, the fishermen ensure that any undersized brown crab, spawning crab and soft, white-shell crab are carefully returned to the sea, allowing them to fully grow and mature. The company says its live brown crab are of the highest quality, high in protein and are healthy, low-fat, and full of omega3 fatty acids. With two storage locations in Donegal, Hannigan Live Irish Shellfish can store up to 15 tonnes of live shellfish in tanks, always using the best-possible quality seawater to store its products. It has state-of-the-art chilling equipment, allowing the products to chill to +2 /+ 4C. As approved known consignors, Hannigan Live Irish Shellfish can pack and export live brown crab (Cancer Pagurus) and live blue lobster (Homarus Gammarus) by airfreight to customers in Europe, China, Hong Kong, Korea, the US, the UAE and more. The company packs airline AKE containers, significantly reducing the risk of box movement until they arrive at consignee airports. Its vivier drivers have vast experience and are trained to high grading and handling standards. The company has four fully-equipped vivier trailers, each with 20 removable tanks, with established customers in France, Spain and Portugal, receiving live shellfish in tanks on a weekly basis, as well as a fleet of articulated lorries and refrigerated trucks, ensuring complete control of its transport needs. liveirishshellfish.com
Irish Premium Oysters
Established in 1992, Irish Premium Oysters is a family-owned and managed business. The oysters are farmed in the warm clear bay of the unspoiled west coast of Ireland. The company harvests its oysters under the strictest quality control and says local sea conditions are ideal for growing Pacific (Crassostrea gigas) oysters. Irish Premium Oysters grows and sells more than two million oysters annually. Export markets include Asia – China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau and Dubai. ipo.ie
Irish Seafood Producers Group Limited (ISPG)
Irish Seafood Producers Group Limited (ISPG) is one of Ireland’s leading suppliers of farmed, organic salmon. Established in 1985, it has grown to become the principal sales and marketing organisation of Irish finfish aquaculture products. With the natural resource of the raging Atlantic Ocean on its doorstep, it prides itself on the quality and freshness of all its premium products. Its salmon is produced and sold as organic, adhering to European, Bio Suisse and Naturland certification. The company’s dedication to product quality and traceability, as well as its careful selection processes, ensures that only fish of the highest quality is packed and distributed to its customers throughout Europe, North America and the Far East. ISPG has a strong reputation worldwide for its organic farmed salmon, partly because of the rigorous standards imposed on Irish salmon farms. Its key markets are France, Ireland, Switzerland, the UK, Germany, Holland, Belgium, the US and Canada. The main channels it supplies are wholesalers, traders, processors and retailers. irishseafoodproducersgroup.ie
Keohane Seafoods
Keohane Seafoods is a family-run business on the southwest coast of Ireland, founded by Mike Keohane and his two sons, Colman and Brian. They have over six decades of combined experience and have become recognised for their outstanding knowledge of, and appreciation for, the finest quality seafood. The company’s two state-of-the-art production facilities are both BRC AA Grade. It also has IFS Higher, is MSC and ASC approved, organic approved and FDA registered. Keohane Seafoods has two facilities: a 20,000 sq. ft. plant at Kinsale Road, Cork and a 65,000 sq. ft. plant in Bantry. Sustainability is a core value at Keohane Seafoods and all seafood is sourced from responsibly-managed fisheries and farms, and it offers fully accredited 'tide to table' traceability. Innovation and creativity are paramount for Keohane Seafoods, as is investing in research and new product development. Keohane Seafoods specialises in retail, wholesale and foodservice; frozen and tempered seafood in a variety of packaging formats, including individual pouches, skin film, chain packs, boxes, bags, blocks, IQF and bulk frozen. Its products and sizes can be tailored to suit customers. keohaneseafoods.ie
Killybegs Seafoods
Killybegs Seafoods is one of the principal Irish processors and exporters of premium quality pelagic fish from Ireland. Raw material is sourced from the Northwest Atlantic waters and brought to its factory in refrigerated seawater trawlers. It has modern fish handling equipment with the capacity to store 800 tonnes of chilled fresh fish, carry out over 400 tonnes of daily air-blast freezing and provide 12,000 tonnes of cold storage space. Established in 1968, the company employs 100 people and supplies markets throughout Europe, as well as exporting to the Far East, Russia, Egypt and West Africa. Its product range includes: mackerel, herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting, boarfish and sprat. Product formats include whole, headed and gutted, gutted, hand-cut fillets, butterfly flaps, frozen and chilled – all in 20kg cartons. The company operates direct sales to secondary processors under the Killybegs Seafoods brand and is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified. killybegsseafoods.com
Kush Seafarms Ltd
Kush Seafarms is the first company in Ireland, and indeed the world, to produce organic rope mussels. These, along with oysters and periwinkles, are harvested in the clear, pure waters of Kenmare Bay, in a Special Area of Conservation (designated under the European Union Habitats Directive) off the southwest coast of Ireland. The company specialises in the export of shellfish globally with particular emphasis on the EU and the UK. Kush is the only Bio Suisse and Naturland-certified company operating in Class A waters in Ireland. kush.ie
McBride Fishing
McBride Fishing is a vertically-integrated company, specialising in the worldwide supply of wild-caught live brown crab and lobster. More than 2,000 tonnes per annum of crab and lobster, delivered to worldwide markets, are harvested sustainably by the company’s own fleet of vessels, using selective pot fishing. McBride Fishing has led the transformation of the brown crab industry from a small inshore fishery in the 1970’s to a major vertically-integrated offshore industry with the scale and critical mass to supply leading food service and retail markets. All of the company’s vessels are built and maintained to Lloyd’s classification and the highest maritime standards, with the most innovative technology available onboard, for catching and keeping the catch alive and in premium condition. McBride Fishing vessels are members of the internationally recognised/supervised (FIP) Fishery Improvement Programme, and the company is a member of the Origin Green programme. Collaboration with long-term trusted partners in markets, transport and processing, and operating live packing for airfreight markets from Schiphol has been key to the company’s success. It operates world class IT systems that provide real time visibility of the complete supply chain. McBride Fishing is constantly innovating and refining its business model to become one of the leading suppliers of live brown crab in the world. In recognition of that, the company was awarded the ‘National Fishing Enterprise of the Year 2018’. mcbridefishing.ie
Mowi
Established in 1979, Mowi is the largest aquaculture company in Ireland, producing organic salmon under the brand names of Clare Island Organic and The Irish Organic Salmon Company. Mowi is a speciality producer within the larger Mowi group. The company employs over 290 people in remote coastal areas of Ireland and is an integral part of the community in these areas. It has won a host of awards for hygiene and quality and offers quality-assured, organically-certified products from its BRC-approved factory. Mowi has access to the following markets: France, Belgium, Italy, China, the US, Canada and many more. Its product range includes Irish organic salmon in a variety of forms, both fresh and frozen, to suit customer needs. Its products are produced with care for both the salmon and the environment in which they live. Most of the company’s fresh-salmon customers are salmon smokers who require a continuous and reliable supply of high-quality fish. mowi.com
Norfish
Norfish was established in 1974 and specialises in processing pelagic fish. The company is strategically located in the fishing port of Killybegs, Co. Donegal. Its product range includes: mackerel – whole round, headed and gutted, fillets and flaps; herring – flaps and deli; horse mackerel and blue whiting in whole and frozen form. It produces both fresh and frozen products and key markets for the company are continental Europe, Eastern Europe, Egypt, Asia and Africa. Products are sold in bulk 20kg cartons or blocks into secondary processing channels. Norfish has expanded its product range to include smoked products, such as smoked haddock, cod and coley fillets for the wholesale trade. The company expects, in the future, to develop these and other products for the retail trade. norfishltd.com
Premier Fish Products
Premier Fish Products was established in 1981 in Kincasslagh and in 2013, it opened its state-of-the-art processing facility in Killybegs, Co. Donegal. The company has a freezing capacity of 350 tonnes per day and a cold-storage capacity of 5,500 tonnes. It was established primarily for processing pelagic fish caught in North Atlantic waters, which are rich in seafood. With over 40 years’ experience, Premier Fish Products has become one of Ireland’s leading fish processors. The company has direct control over the quality of its catches through ownership of its vessels, thus ensuring continuity of supply of top-quality seafood. Demand for its products has grown rapidly over the years and its ability to source fish from its own vessels means it's able to deliver a consistent supply of seafood to the market. Premier Fish Products has a worldwide customer base and can provide distribution solutions for any part of the globe. Its product range includes: mackerel – whole round, headed and gutted, hand and machine-cut fillets; herring – whole round; horse mackerel – whole round; and blue whiting – whole round. premierfish.ie
Rockabill Seafood Ltd
Rockabill Seafood Ltd is a privately-owned Irish company formed in 1983. Its owners, the Price family, has a long-standing involvement in the fishing industry over many generations. Rockabill has two processing factories in Ireland. It also has several landing depots in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The company specialises in live, fresh, frozen and cooked seafood products, including a wide range of shellfish, such as Dublin Bay prawns, scampi, scampi meat, breaded scampi, prawn tails, frozen-at-sea prawns and monk tails, razor clams, cockles, winkles, brown crab, crab claws, white and brown crab meat, blue lobster, monkfish. Rockabill Seafood can pack all of these products in many ways: live, fresh, frozen and cooked, in trays, cartons, polyester and bags. Rockabill invests time, capital and management to ensure the integrity of its supply chain and customer base and continues to invest year-on-year in its boats and supply chain. The company also has achieved the BRC AA Global Standard in its plant. Bill and Ian Price also own a fleet of trawlers and the company handles product from over 120 fishing vessels that catch world-class seafood from the waters of the Atlantic. In addition, Rockabill Seafood Ltd has its own fleet of refrigerated trucks, ensuring fully-traceable, temperature-controlled, inbound transport. Rockabill now exports to over 25 countries. rockabill.ie
Shellfish Ireland
Shellfish Ireland was established in 1987 to catch Irish brown crab and supply it to local and worldwide seafood buyers. The company supplies to extensive retail, wholesale and foodservice markets in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Asia. Operating on a 24-hour basis from a 20,000 sq. ft. factory, all crab is cooked to precision in an efficient manner. Afterwards, the crab meat and crab toes are hand-processed to ensure the product stays in its most natural form. Shellfish Ireland has access to some of the purest waters and freshest shellfish available. The company has boats that fish out of the local harbour, landing daily, so it can be processed during the night to ensure the delivery of freshest product possible to its customers. shellfishireland.com
Sofrimar
For over 40 years, Sofrimar has forged strong links with its local fishing community, sourcing only the best quality local products. Sofrimar offers a wide and diverse range of premium Irish seafood including scallop meat, crab (whole, claws and meat), whelks, winkles, lobsters, prawns, razor clams, shrimps and monkfish. The raw material is processed according to customers’ requirements, minutes after being landed at its state-of-the-art facilities, and over 99% of the production is exported to markets worldwide. Sofrimar supplies all of the key European markets and is a major exporter to East Asia. Thanks to continuous investment in the best-available technology, Sofrimar offers its products in a variety of forms such as live, chilled, fresh-cooked, pasteurised, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), frozen and frozen-at-sea. The 6,000m2 International Featured Standards (IFS)-certified factory includes extensive cooking, chilling, freezing, cold storage and processing facilities, as well as a unique, live shellfish, long-term holding system. Continuous product improvement and technological advancement, together with the intelligent use of its natural habitat, are key ingredients in Sofrimar’s success. Sofrimar’s dedication and commitment to offering superior Irish seafood was recognised when it received the Irish Seafood Exporter of the Year award twice in the last decade, as well as the Green Seafood Award. sofrimar.ie
Ward Fish
Ward Fish was founded in 1998 and is situated in Killybegs, Ireland’s premier pelagic port. Ward Fish specialises in processing, freezing and exporting all types of pelagic fish and fish products, including Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sprat. The products are supplied in frozen format and include: mackerel – whole round, headed and gutted, hand-cut side fillets, gutted mackerel, mackerel butterfly fillets; herring – whole round, deli, flaps; horse mackerel – whole round; blue whiting – whole round; and sprat – whole round. The company’s processing facility is capable of freezing 800MT per day, with 18,000MT of cold storage on site. Raw material is supplied by modern pelagic vessels. The product is shipped to global markets including China, Japan, Russia, Europe and Africa. wardfish.com
Waterford Oysters
Meitheal Trá na Rinne Teo has been producing oysters since 1990 and the company currently sells around 500 to 600 tonnes of top-quality oysters per annum to global markets. Its idyllic location in a tidal bay on the south coast of Ireland offers unique growing conditions for oysters. The Atlantic Ocean flows into the bay on the Waterford coast twice daily, supplying oysters with fresh clean food which gives them their unique taste. They are sweet, salty and plump. It is the taste, and the craft with which they are grown, that makes them much sought after by connoisseurs the world over. All of the oysters are grown by four local family-run companies who between them share over 100 years of oyster producing experience. waterfordoysters.com
Wild Atlantic Shellfish Ltd
Wild Atlantic Shellfish Ltd is owned and operated by a group of three family-run, artisan oyster farms. Marketed under the Wild Atlantic Oyster brand, the group’s operations are located in Sligo Bay on the northwest coast of Ireland. Nestled in a location with a distinguished history of oyster cultivation spanning three centuries, the company specialises in the cultivation of the Pacific oyster species Crassostrea Gigas, which they source from their own shellfish hatchery. The hatchery supplies oyster seed to all three shellfish farms in the Wild Atlantic Oyster group. The company operates a 4,000kg, EU-approved depuration and packing facility, allowing oysters to be supplied, ready for consumption, to markets in Europe and Asia. Wild Atlantic Shellfish Ltd is a verified member of the Origin Green sustainability programme. wildatlanticoyster.com