Castletownbere shellfish company chosen as InterTrade Business Ambassador

Castletownbere company, Shellfish Ireland, is the latest InterTradeIreland business ambassador, announced at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin on Wednesday.

President Michael D Higgins as well as Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, Richard Bruton, attended events in both the Mansion House and Áras an Uachtaráin to unveil the new business ambassadors.

Richard Murphy and Gearóid O’Rourke, Shellfish Ireland with President Higgins in Áras an Uachtaráin

To develop new markets in Northern Ireland, Shellfish Ireland approached InterTradeIreland and through the Acumen programme, received support to take on a sales and marketing graduate.

The company also availed of InterTradeIreland support through its FUSION programme to develop new product development systems and the company’s culinary and nutrition capabilities to bring new shellfish products to the Irish and UK retail and food service markets.

Established in 1987, Shellfish Ireland is one of the largest employers in Castletownbere. Its produce can be found extensively in retail outlets in Ireland, Europe and internationally, while the Shellfish Ireland customer base now also includes over 1000 restaurants in Ireland and supplies a variety of the highest quality seafood to leading Irish chefs such as Derry Clarke, Kevin Thornton and Neven Maguire.

“I am extremely excited about the future of Shellfish Ireland which has established itself as one of the main exporters of Irish Shellfish internationally,” remarked chief executive, Michael Cronin.