John J Russell, managing director, Glenarm Organic Salmon visited Seafex Dubai on 7 – 9 November to showcase the Northern Irish company’s premium smoked salmon range, which has just become available in the Middle East market.
What is unique about Glenarm smoked salmon?
We smoke our salmon sides in a small Belfast smoke-house over smouldering oak and beech wood chips, using our unique 100-year old traditional recipe. The smoked salmon is then allowed to mature before packing to produce a delicate, yet complex flavour. We can provide the fish in any size, from full size down to 100g packs, sliced, unsliced, trimmed, and untrimmed. All our smoked salmon is long-sliced rather than D-sliced to that the fish tastes the same all the way through. Our best-sellers are the 100g and 200g packs.
What countries do you export to currently?
We export to 16 different countries – most of Europe, USA, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Lebanon. In the Middle East, we just export to Dubai for the time being. We’ve been looking hard at other markets over here but we keep getting push back on the price. I think some people don’t understand the product and its value; where it sits in the market.
Who are you targeting with your smoked salmon?
Top-end, five-star hotels will be our base level. Smoked salmon is a very mature market and we only produce 600 tonnes of fresh salmon per year so we are looking at niche, small-volume business. I’m convinced there’s a demand for our product in Dubai; there are very discerning customers in Dubai and we’re trying to reach those people. Time and time again the product speaks for itself, so we don’t do heavy advertising; we let them taste it and then they’ll buy it.
T+44 (0) 28 288 41691
E: info@glenarmorganicsalmon.com
W: smoked@glenarmorganicsalmon.com
