Joint venture to meet growing demand of the French seafood market
Breizon Limited — an Irish seafood company based in Connemara supported by BIM’s Collective Route to Market Scheme, has established a joint venture company with two French partners in Lorient, France.
The new business venture involves a collective agreement between Breizon (shellfish) and Keem Bay Fish Products (smoked seafood) who will supply product to meet the growing demand of the French market. French partners Argis Galacsea and Les Viviers de Keroman will act as a hub to enable the partners deliver fresh Irish seafood produce direct to retailers, restaurants and fish mongers.
Positive growth trend
Despite the recession, the Irish seafood sector is holding its own with sales reaching an estimated €749m in 2011, reports BIM. Exports for the first half of 2012 are up 20% in value to €253m compared with the same period in 2011.
Referring to the government’s Food Harvest 2020 report, BIM’s chief executive Jason Whooley believes the sector needs to build scale in order to complete efficiently:
“There are 180 registered seafood companies with processing facilities in Ireland; a large proportion of these are small-scale operations with a turnover of between €3 – €10m.
In contrast, our typical European competitor has a turnover of €50m. This lack of scale limits our ability to invest in the market place and maximise profitability. To overcome this challenge, BIM worked with industry throughout the year on an ambitious business development strategy. This comprised support packages and expert advice to provide capital and to develop greater synergies within the sector to ensure we can compete more effectively on the international market.”
Loic Trahan, managing director of Breizon Limited said the new venture will benefit his business:
“Our plan is to collaborate with Irish producers and other processors to market a comprehensive range of top quality Irish seafood products to our French customers. We aim to use our collective experience and resources to increase sales and boost margins through this channel which will improve cooperation between processors and producers in Ireland. It will also enable access to an extensive array of valuable contacts through our French partners to investigate new niche markets for our products.”
