Glenarm Organic Salmon wins first business in Hong Kong

Glenarm Organic Salmon, Northern Ireland's only fish farming business, is to supply fresh salmon to top hotels in Hong Kong. The company's first business in China is the outcome of a series of marketing initiatives in Asia - it already supplies fresh salmon to premium hotels in Singapore and Thailand.

Glenarm Organic Salmon took part in a recent international seafood exhibition in Hong Kong and also met potential buyers on a mission there with three other Northern Ireland seafood businesses.

John Russell, Glenarm Organic Salmon managing director, says:"The business that we are now developing in Hong Kong will give us an important foothold for growth in China, an increasingly affluent market with a rapidly growing middle class with an interest in quality food from European suppliers. It's a market that we've targeted for fast growth during 2013.

"The interest that we are now attracting from high-end hotels in China carries forward our existing business in other parts of Asia such as Singapore and Thailand, markets which we have been shipping fresh salmon to since 2008.

"What sets our fresh salmon apart from competitors is the fantastic quality that comes from our fish farm location in the cold, tidal waters of the Irish Sea, where the environment produces a highly textured and delicious fish.

"Foodservice operators worldwide are now recognising increasingly the quality of salmon that we produce in Glenarm. We expect our sales in Hong Kong and mainland China to grow steadily over the next 12 months and beyond," he adds.

Major investments in the hospitality sector are underway in China and further growth is projected in both long and short-terms. Substantial projects have already been announced by leading US and European hotel groups.

Established in 1989, Glenarm Organic Salmon is the only Atlantic salmon producer in the Irish Sea and Northern Ireland's only salmon farming business.

The company produces over 500 tonnes of organic salmon each year which is distributed throughout the UK and overseas markets to discerning customers seeking premium quality organic salmon from responsible and sustainable aquaculture and is recognised as such by the influential Organic Food Federation. It supplies leading hotels and upmarket restaurants particularly in Europe and the US.