Top 50 UK Foods winner from Northern Ireland at SEAFEX 2013

Thursday 14th November 2013

Organic smoked salmon developed by a Northern Irish company which has also had a seafood product ranked among the top 50 foods in the United Kingdom and Ireland will be featured on the Northern Ireland Naturally presentation at SEAFEX 2013 in the World Trade Centre, Dubai, Hall 4 G14, 17-19 November.

Northern Ireland's Ewing's Seafoods will be showing the organic smoked salmon which gained a gold star for outstanding taste in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, an annual competition organised by the influential UK Guild of Fine Food.

Ewing's smoked salmon is the result of collaboration with another seafood specialist featuring on the Northern Ireland Naturally stand, Glenarm Organic Salmon, the region's only fish farm that already supplies its own fresh organic salmon to foodservice organisations in Dubai.

The organic salmon farm ships fresh salmon daily and all year round by air to chefs in high-end restaurants and hotels around the world. Around 75 per cent of its premium Irish salmon production is now sent to wholesalers in the US, Europe, the Emirates and Asia, principally Singapore.

The third company showing unique products on the Northern Ireland Naturally stand is Rooney Fish, based at Kilkeel, county Down, the region's biggest fishing port. Rooney Fish has been supplying seafood especially langoustines to the Gulf, parts of Europe, Japan and Hong Kong for many years. In addition to langoustines, Rooney Fish will be showcasing Winkles, Whelk Meat, Whole Whelk, European Lobster, Velvet Crab, Whole Crab, Cocktail Crab Claws, Pacific Oysters and Queen Scallops (in shell and roe-on and roe off) at SEAFEX 2013.

The family-owned and managed company, which currently exports its entire output of seafood, is among the most innovative in the food sector in terms of new product development.

A fourth Northern Ireland-based Seafood company, C&O Milligan specialists in Herring and Mackerel will also be visiting the show.

Dr Vicky Kell, Director of Invest Northern Ireland, the region's business development body, which is hosting the Northern Ireland Naturally presentation, says: "We see the Gulf and the wider Middle East as a huge market opportunity for a broad range of quality seafood because of the growing demand for high quality and completely safe products which are a speciality of Northern Ireland. Our seafood is sourced from the clean and invigorating waters surrounding the island of Ireland."

Ewing's Seafoods which is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland's capital, gained six gold stars in the Great Taste Awards 2013, the first time it had entered products in the event, which is an outstanding result. Their organic smoked salmon has gained Halal accreditation. As well as the organic smoked salmon, Ewing's had another product, traditionally pale smoked cod named in the Top 50 Foods in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Ewing's, a 100 year-old family business has been smoking fish, especially salmon, slowly and carefully in its own kiln over oak and beech woods and using an old family recipe. The company will be showing the award winning salmon for retailers and food service. The salmon is already listed by Selfridges and Harrods in London.

Glenarm Organic Salmon is farmed to the rigorous standards of the Organic Food Federation and is widely recognised as possessing a rich and distinctive flavour that comes from being raised on seawater farms located in the Irish Sea, where the currents and tidal flows ensure optimal exercise and firm muscle formation.

The organic salmon farm, based on the county Antrim coast, benefits immensely from an extremely clean and healthy environment. Glenarm Organic Salmon harvests, processes and dispatches all its fresh salmon within 24 hours. It is able to ship products across the world in just three to four days, ensuring a fresher product and longer shelf-life for the retailer and consumer.

The company has been in business since 1989 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.

The small company farms around 500 tonnes of premium organic salmon annually and sells every fish it products, the overwhelming majority to customers in international markets. Glenarm Organic Salmon has also achieved Halal accreditation.

Rooney Fishemploys 40 people at its modern processing plant, Rooney Fish pioneered the development of a cooking process for langoustines which have won significant export business particularly in France with major retailers such as Carrefour, Auchan and Leclerc as well as wholesalers in Spain supplying retail and foodservice leaders.

Rooney Fish was established in 1974 and now specialises in shellfish from the Irish Sea including King Scallops, prawns, periwinkles, mussels, crab, shrimp and lobster for export.