Business

Glenarm firm takes further leap into export markets

NORTHERN Ireland's only Atlantic salmon fishery is expanding in an effort to leap ahead in export markets.

Glenarm Organic Salmon has launched a £100,000 project to develop a high-end smoked product in a move that has also created three jobs.

It received support from Invest NI's Jobs Fund towards the new posts to increase business outside the north to almost 80 per cent of its sales.

Glenarm managing director John Russell said: "The recent launch of our premium organic smoked salmon is a hugely important stage in the lifecycle of the business. "Developing value added products from our farmed salmon has long been a key part of our export growth strategy. Market feedback has been excellent and has led to encouraging orders from major hotels abroad for the new salmon. "The smoked salmon has a distinctively rich flavour that comes from a new curing recipe that we have developed with an experienced local seafood curer. "Invest NI assistance is enabling us to step up global marketing of the new smoked salmon as well as our existing fresh and frozen products. As well as high-end hotels and restaurants we are targeting up-market retailers with a premium gift box."

Invest NI's director of food and tourism John Hood said it was "a very important investment in the product portfolio by a progressive company at a time when the Food and Drink Federation has announced that salmon is now the UK's leading food export particularly to huge and dynamic markets such as the US and China. As well as the new jobs that are already in place, the investment marks an important step by Glenarm Organic into added value products. "Our support has been geared to enable the company to exploit the export potential of its salmon, especially the new premium smoked product, with high-end hotels and restaurants worldwide. It already has a solid platform for growth in almost 30 markets from San Francisco and New York in the US to Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. "The new posts have provided an important boost within this rural community," he added.

Invest NI has offered Glenarm Organic Salmon £15,000 from the Jobs Fund towards the three new posts.

The fish are reared in fish farms at Glenarm Bay and Red Bay to strict accredited organic standards.