Northern Irish seafood processors achieve Halal accreditation

Two Northern Irish seafood processors have joined forces to achieve Halal accreditation that will enable them to win more business throughout the Middle East.

The two companies, Ewing Seafood, Belfast's oldest fishmonger, and Glenarm Organic Salmon, Northern Ireland's only fish farming business, are aiming to develop sales of smoked salmon in these buoyant markets.

Both companies have been developing business contacts particularly in the United Arab Emirates for the salmon products. Ewing Seafood slowly smokes organic salmon sourced from Glenarm in its own kiln over a fragrant mix of beech and oak wood chips.

While the salmon has already been ordered by leading hotels in Dubai, both companies recognised that building greater business in the Emirates and other markets across the Middle East required Halal accreditation.

"Interest in our smoked salmon, particularly in the Emirates, is immensely encouraging. Existing customers were impressed by the taste and texture of the salmon that are influenced by the fish farm location in the cold and invigorating waters of the Irish Sea," says Crawford Ewing, a director of the family-run Ewing Seafood.

"What we bring to the salmon is a heritage in curing smoking fresh fish that stretches back a century and in our traditional kiln using handcrafting techniques. We use a unique recipe which gives the salmon a distinctively rich flavour that was recognised this year by in the UK Great Taste Awards," he adds.

John Russell, managing director of Glenarm Organic Salmon in county Antrim, says: "Halal accreditation is an essential requirement for sustainable business in the Middle East. We see immense opportunities there for our unique organic salmon and are determined to grasp the business.

"Achieving Halal accreditation is a rigorous and exacting process that involved an examination of the feed we use, through the entire farming operation to the smoking and final preparation at Ewings. We now know that our products now meet the requirements for further and greater business throughout the Middle East."

Established in 1911, Ewing Seafood currently supplies smoked salmon and other seafood to UK retailers, including Selfridges in London, and leading restaurants in Northern Ireland. The company, which is family-owned and managed, was successful in having one of its products included in the Top 50 Foods listed by the UK Guild of Fine Food in the recent Great Taste Awards.

Glenarm Organic Salmon in Northern Ireland doubled sales of fresh salmon in markets including the US, Europe, Singapore and Dubai. The company has been in business since 2008 and is the only organic salmon producer in the north east of Ireland. The small company is located near the historic village of Glenarm in the picturesque Glens of Antrim. It farms around 500 tonnes of premium organic salmon annually and sells every fish it produces, the overwhelming majority to customers in international markets.