Rooney Fish catches seafood business in Japan

Northern Irish processor Rooney Fish has won contracts with two Japanese companies worth £500,000.

Rooney Fish, based in Kilkeel, County Down, secured the new business after meeting the buyers at a seafood show in Brussels.

The latest orders won by Rooney Fish are from the Hanwa and Chuugai Shokuhin companies.

Hanwa is a distribution company from Japan and a large player in the distribution of seafood throughout China, Japan and Hong Kong, while Chuugai Shokuhin also placed an order with the Kilkeel company.

"We met them at the European seafood show and they subsequently came to our premises in Kilkeel where we have a cooking facility which is the only one in the UK and Ireland," Andrew Rooney, managing director of Rooney Fish says. "The quality of our product sold itself. There's a tremendous market for quality fish in the Far East.

All of the products supplied by Rooney Fish are sourced from the Irish Sea and processed at the plant in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland's main fishing port.

The family-run business, which was established in 1975, has expanded in recent years and now has offices in France, Spain and Italy. It supplies a wide range of fish to customers outside Northern Ireland.

Rooney Fish also welcomed prospective buyers from Dubai to the plant last week

"We had some help from Invest NI and from that we have attended the Gulf Seafood Show for the past three years," Mr Rooney adds. "Everything is processed in Northern Ireland, it is a one-stop shop."