Atlantis Seafoods rolling with the punches in our new reality
WHILE a lot of businesses have been forced to close their doors while we deal with Covid-19, others have completely adapted the service they provide and rolled with the punches in a bid to continue trading.
One such business is Atlantis Seafoods, who found themselves in front of the camera last week as RTÉ’s Nationwide paid a visit to check out how business was going and the changes that they had made. There are several facets to Atlantis’ business model. Operating out of a unit in the Kerlogue Business Park in Wexford, prior to all this, they operated a factory shop at the unit where customers could come in and purchase fresh seafood, along with their fish counter at Dunnes Stores in Redmond Square. But in addition to this, they also supply quite a few supermarkets, as well as restaurants and hotels.
One aspect of the business which could be set to get busier as the days and weeks go by, is the supply to hospitals.
‘We supply around 80% of hospitals and care centres in the country,’ said Sales Manager at Atlantis Scott Wardlaw. ‘We have to maintain the supply for that, so there will always be boats going out to cover that. We also supply a lot of supermarkets and supply our three own brand products for three of the big supermarkets. We’re tipping along, but the bulk of our business came from restaurants and hotels. Overall, I’d estimate that we’re down around 60%.’
Unsurprisingly, this has had an impact on staffing.
‘Before all this we had around 60 employees,’ Scott said. ‘What we’re doing at the moment is trying to rotate shifts and that type of thing, so that everyone gets some hours and that if anyone gets sick, there’ll still be people to keep things going.’
One of the ways that the company has attempted to adapt to the current Covid-19 environment, is by offering delivery across the county.
‘It’s something that we’ve never done before,’ said Scott. ‘We’re offering delivery right across Co Wexford. We’re seeing quite a bit of uptake on this, but I suppose it’s still early doors. It was great to welcome the Nationwide crew down and to show them what we’re doing differently in challenging times.’