Award winning restaurant launches seafoods for retail
Mourne Seafood Bar, the award winning Northern Irish restaurant business, is to launch a range of own branded foods for retail.
The company, which also owns the popular Belfast Cookery School, has developed hot and cold smoked salmon and three added value pates for retail, initially, through its website.
The new products will be marketed to delis in the UK and Republic of Ireland in 2013 and are all sourced from Northern Ireland.
Bob McCoubrey, owner of Mourne Seafood Bar, is driving the diversification into retail. He says: "We are seeing significant interest in local fish and a growing awareness that locally sourced seafood is among the best available anywhere in the UK and Ireland.
"Many customers, in addition, have asked us about the fish that we use in our menus, products which have been acclaimed by food writers from the UK and other parts of Europe and have led to development of Mourne Seafood Bar as an exceptionally strong brand in the marketplace.
"Northern Irish smoked salmon, in particular, ranks among the very best and was an obvious initial product for us to make available to a wider customer base through our successful website, which is attracting 'hits' from people in countries as diverse as Australia and the US.
"Developing an initial range of three pates was a logical extension of the smoked salmon product and another opportunity to add value to the quality ingredients available from our fishing industry.
"All our products are - and will continue to be - locally sourced and are fully traceable. This means customers can count on the quality and provenance of our seafood," he adds.
The smoked salmon, available in full side, half side and quarter side packs, has been developed with East Coast Seafoods in Downpatrick, County Down, an established fish processor and UK Great Taste Award winner.
The new pates - smoked mackerel, smoked salmon and crab - have been created by Andy Rea, Mourne Seafood Bar's award winning head chef, and are being produced in 150g jars.
Mourne Seafood Bar currently has three successful restaurants in Northern Ireland, two in Belfast city centre and at Dundrum in County Down, the company's first, and will open in Dublin city centre early next year.
Mourne Seafood Bar in Dundrum was recently named among the top 100 UK restaurants in the National Restaurant Awards 2012. It was opened in 2005 by McCoubrey, who had developed a successful business growing Pacific oysters for export to customers in France and other parts of Europe.
He opened the Belfast restaurant in 2007 with Andy Rea, his business partner, and followed this with Belfast Cookery School, in 2011, the city's first commercial cookery school.
In addition, the company sources a full range of fresh fish and Queen scallops from North Sea trawlers from its own processing operation at Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland's main fishing port, for its menus and a fish shop, part of the main Belfast restaurant.
Pictured is Bob McCoubrey, owner of Mourne Seafood Bar,