Liam Quinlan, Group MD, Quinlan’s Kerry Fish
Episode 41, Dec 05, 12:00 PM
Quinlan’s Kerry Fish, based in Cahersiveen, have become famous for providing the very best Wild, Organic and Superior Smoked Salmon and fresh seafood to customers across the world.
The operation was originally started by Danish company called Rainbow who were really ahead of their time with trawlers, fish meal plant, mink farm to use waste etc but went burst soon after and some local fishermen including Michael Quinlan bought the processing factory to secure an outlet for their fish. Although renamed Kerry Fish at the time, over the years it became known as Quinlan’s and in 1996 Michael and his eldest son, Liam, bought out the shareholders so it was most definitely Quinlan’s.
At that time they were exporting a lot of Mackerel and Herring all over the world to such places as Japan, Nigeria, Egypt and they also had their own fishing trawlers. While some of the catch made decent money in Spain and throughout Europe, some didn’t and these species were also favoured by the Irish public so in 1990 the team decided to open some wet fish shops – they have 6 in total now – so they could add value in that way and they were and still are very successful.
Following on from that they decided to open Fish n chip/Seafood bars – they have 6 of these as well!! - and again these are a great success with access to their own catch making the supply chain very short.
While they still export quite a lot of seafood such as Prawns, Monkfish and Sole all over Europe Smoked Salmon has been the product that has stood the test of time and with several Great Taste and Blas Na hEireann awards, they take immense pride in selling and delivering it all over the Globe. They have built up a super loyal customer base and as Christmas approaches they feel so lucky to have a handsome repeat customer base.
The business has now been fully passed down to the second generation of Quinlan’s with brothers Liam, Ronan and Fintan, all at the helm. Given the amount of time this man spends travelling the globe, I am delighted to have sitting in front of me, Liam, Michael’s eldest son. His main objective in the business is to seek opportunities to continually grow and expand the company. He also ensures that every customer is supplied with the freshest of fish and responds to their comments and suggestions, as part of the company’s policy to ensure ongoing customer satisfaction. I think we are in for a mouthwatering discussion!
The operation was originally started by Danish company called Rainbow who were really ahead of their time with trawlers, fish meal plant, mink farm to use waste etc but went burst soon after and some local fishermen including Michael Quinlan bought the processing factory to secure an outlet for their fish. Although renamed Kerry Fish at the time, over the years it became known as Quinlan’s and in 1996 Michael and his eldest son, Liam, bought out the shareholders so it was most definitely Quinlan’s.
At that time they were exporting a lot of Mackerel and Herring all over the world to such places as Japan, Nigeria, Egypt and they also had their own fishing trawlers. While some of the catch made decent money in Spain and throughout Europe, some didn’t and these species were also favoured by the Irish public so in 1990 the team decided to open some wet fish shops – they have 6 in total now – so they could add value in that way and they were and still are very successful.
Following on from that they decided to open Fish n chip/Seafood bars – they have 6 of these as well!! - and again these are a great success with access to their own catch making the supply chain very short.
While they still export quite a lot of seafood such as Prawns, Monkfish and Sole all over Europe Smoked Salmon has been the product that has stood the test of time and with several Great Taste and Blas Na hEireann awards, they take immense pride in selling and delivering it all over the Globe. They have built up a super loyal customer base and as Christmas approaches they feel so lucky to have a handsome repeat customer base.
The business has now been fully passed down to the second generation of Quinlan’s with brothers Liam, Ronan and Fintan, all at the helm. Given the amount of time this man spends travelling the globe, I am delighted to have sitting in front of me, Liam, Michael’s eldest son. His main objective in the business is to seek opportunities to continually grow and expand the company. He also ensures that every customer is supplied with the freshest of fish and responds to their comments and suggestions, as part of the company’s policy to ensure ongoing customer satisfaction. I think we are in for a mouthwatering discussion!
This is the 41st episode with guest Liam Quinlan, Group MD, Quinlan’s Kerry Fish, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.