12 May 2015

Irish Atlantic Seafood Company (iASC) is the first Irish company ever to win the seafood industry’s most prestigious award – the Prix d’Elite for world’s best Seafood Product Line.

The Cork-based seafood company scooped the award for its innovative line of shellfish butters at the Global Seafood Expo in Brussels, the world’s largest seafood event.

The award-winning product range ‘Something Fishy’ enhances fish dishes with a delicious shellfish protein combined with Irish butter, seafood and seasoning to produce an ‘umami’ or savoury taste.

The product was developed and tested in Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s (BIM) Seafood Development Centre (SDC) in Clonakilty, which provides invaluable expertise and support to help seafood companies to bring their fish products to life.

Each year, the Seafood Prix d’Elite names the best new retail and foodservice seafood products of the year and also recognises innovative seafood companies with special awards. iASC’s ‘Something Fishy’ products, which are now being used in British Airway’s first class cabins as well as being exported to Malaysia, were deservedly chosen as the world’s best Seafood Product Line by a distinguished jury of seafood buyers, chefs and industry experts.

Colin Ross, Managing Director of iASC, which also earlier this year won the World Food Innovation Award said: “Winning the Prix d’Elite is the equivalent of the Oscars for the seafood industry”.

“We are absolutely delighted to win and we’re extremely grateful to BIM’s Seafood Development Centre who pushed us to do the work to develop the range in the first place. In fact, we wouldn’t exist were it not for the SDC who saw the possibilities in our products and guided us on how to add value to our products through innovation. We’re very grateful of their expertise and technology – they’ve been our safety net which is an invaluable support for a company such as ours that is starting to dip its toe into the food market, both nationally and internationally.”

iASC has an ongoing relationship with SDC who provide assistance and support on process and shelf-life testing. Aileen Deasy, Seafood Technologist of BIM’s Seafood Development Centre congratulated the iASC team on their well-deserved win.

“We have worked with Colin and James Grimes for over three years, supporting them through product conception, research, testing and development. We’re very proud to have been part of their journey to award-winning success and we looking forward to the exciting future and new product ranges that have yet to be launched.”

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea Fisheries Board is the Irish State agency with responsibility for developing the Irish Sea Fishing and Aquaculture industries.

BIM provides commercially relevant and innovative services to the Irish seafood industry that drive growth opportunities, add value, enhance competitiveness and create jobs in a sustainable, natural resource based industry for the benefit of coastal communities.

BIM’s five year strategy ‘Capturing Ireland’s Share of the Global Seafood Opportunity 2013-2017’ has clear and ambitious targets in place to achieve €1 billion in seafood sales and 1,200 jobs by 2017

www.bim.ie