Irish cooked lobster ranked in Europe’s elite

A READY-TO-EAT cooked lobster, processed by a Cork seafood company, was hailed as an exciting new product at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels.

It was one of 70 products, and the only one from Ireland, that was chosen for the final of the 2008 Seafood Prix d’Elite, from over 1,600 exhibiting companies from 87 countries.

William Carr and Sons, based in Curraglass in the Blackwater Valley — with a second plant, Carrokeel Foods, in Kilalla, Co Mayo — was delighted at having one of its products chosen for the final in the world’s largest seafood trade show.

The company’s cooked lobster is stored in brine to give it an extended shelf life of up to 30 days. It is initially aimed at the Scandinavian market.

Billy Carr, the company’s marketing director, said that having its cooked lobster chosen for the Prix d’Elite final was great recognition for the product, which has been on sale for just a year.

He said the ready-to-eat lobster is prepared to a traditional Blackwater Valley recipe and provides opportunities at retail level for increased market share, improved margins and stimulates customer loyalty.

“Supermarkets are able to stock it without the troublesome necessity of having tanks to keep it alive in the traditional way. The same applies to restaurants,” he said.

The lobsters are shipped live from a fishery in Canada and are specially prepared and cooked in Curraglass.

Mr Carr said they get their lobsters from Canada because of the difficulty in sourcing the volume and size required in Ireland.

William Carr and Sons — which has an annual turnover of €12 million and employs some 75 people between its operations in Curraglass and Kilalla — has previously been awarded six accolades for seafood products at the British Great Taste Awards.

The Carr brothers — Billy, Raymond, who’s in research and development, and Noel, the financial director, inherited the craft from their father, William, who set up the business in 1946 with his wife Mary.