Triple win for Atlantis at awards
ATLANTIS Seafoods got along swimmingly at the inaugural Irish Free From Food Awards, reeling in three prizes for their Dunnes Stores branded products. After putting forward four of their products for the awards, the seafood distributor picked up a gold, silver and bronze award at the ceremony in the Mansion House. It was their haddock goujons that struck gold with the judges, while their smoked haddock scooped a silver award. A bronze award was also awarded to the company for their breaded hake. Commenting on the win, Sales and Marketing Assistant at Atlantis Sorcha McSweeney said it was a ‘fantastic opportunity’ for the company. ‘We were delighted with the win,’ she said. ‘ This is the first year that the awards have been on so it was great to win right across the board. We submitted four products and to receive three awards was brilliant.’ Atlantis Seafoods are the exclusive producers of the Dunnes Stores breaded fresh fish range, all of which is gluten free. They produce the fish in their Wexford processing facility using fish landed daily in Kilmore Quay and distribute it to Dunnes Stores outlets nationwide. Members of the public got a taste of these award-winning products and many other Atlantis dishes at the Maritime Festival over the weekend where they proved to be a big winner once again. With the recent win now under their belt, Atlantis Seafoods hope to grow their Dunnes brand further, as well as establish a wider range of own brand products in the coming months. All of their own products are currently sold in their shop in Strandfield Business Park and other retail outlets. The FreeFrom Food Awards Ireland were founded by John Burke – a lifelong Coeliac and longtime judge of the FreeFrom Food Awards in the UK. They recognise, encourage and reward the achievements of producers who produce good quality free from products. This is the first year that they have taken place in Ireland. This isn’t the first time that Atlantis have received an award for their seafood products. They already have a Gold Great Taste Award, a Blás na hÉireann award and several Wexford Business Awards to their name. Earlier this year, they proved once again that they are top of the food chain when their seafood was used at the 1916 State Commemoration Dinner. John Kenny, a director at Atlantis, said the company didn’t know in advance its produce was used for the State dinner. ‘ There were so many events happening in Dublin at the weekend and we supplied the wholesaler who provided them to the venues,’ said John.
‘We didn’t know exactly where they were going, however, the prawns were definitely ours.’ He said that in addition to prawns, Atlantis sent large quantities of smoked salmon, hake and other seafood to the capital in what had been a bumper weekend.