Northern Irish seafood specialist sees fast growth in China

Rooney Fish, Northern Ireland's leading exporter of fish and seafood, has seen sales to China rise by 25 percent in the past year.

The company, based at Kilkeel, Northern Ireland's main fish and seafood hub, has seen significant growth in Chinese business as a result of its participation in major trade shows especially the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo (CFSE) in Qingdao in Shandong Province.

Rooney Fish is now supplying most of the products in its extensive seafood portfolio to customers in China for both retail and foodservice outlets.

The company specialises in crab meat, crab claws, whole prawns, whelks, lobsters and its award-winning Mill Bay Oysters, which gained three-gold stars in the UK Great Taste Awards in 2016and 2017.

Andrew Rooney, a director of the family-run business, says China is "fast becoming the company's most important market". "China Fisheries and Seafood Expo in November was an immensely successful trade show for us and produced significant contacts and new business orders.

"Our seafood is being shipped to major population centres such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We work closely with a business partner which has extensive cold store facilities that gives us a great platform for further growth throughout the country.

"We also benefit substantially by taking part in business missions and trade show stands organised by Invest Northern Ireland," he adds.

China's consumption and import of seafood, Mr Rooney continues, have risen dramatically. The country imported seafood worth more than £5 billion last year. And is expected to more than double by 2020.

Mr Rooney says the company has also seen growth in European markets, especially Spain, which takes most of its product range. In addition, it supplies crab claws to Japan and South Korea.

Formed in 1975, Rooney Fish is a family owned and managed business, which specialises in processing, cooking, chilling and freezing of a wide range of seafood and shellfish.

The company, which has offices in France, Spain and Italy, operates from one of the industry's most modern and EC approved processing plants with extensive freezing and storage capacity. It sources its shellfish from the local fishing fleet, purchasing about 90 per cent of the local catch.

Rooney Fish employs 65 people, including 20 new jobs created earlier in the year, and also operates its own trawlers in the Irish Sea.