Blue Haven Seafood
We talk to one of SuperValu’s suppliers, Blue Haven, about their company and their experiences on the SuperValu Supplier Development Programme.
The name Blue Haven brings Ireland’s gourmet capital of Kinsale to mind and evokes images of delicious, mouth-watering seafood. So a name with such resonance was the perfect choice for a new gourmet seafood range.
“We ran the Blue Haven Hotel and we noticed that the food we served there went down very well, so we decided to produce some in our kitchen at night on a trial basis to see if it would work in a wider retail market” Cormac Fitzgerald explains how he and his brother Ciaran started the Blue Haven Food Company.
The Blue Haven Sea Food Chowder was their first product and it did indeed work. It was met with such acclaim that it went on to win the “Best Product Award in 2009”.
The Blue Haven Food Company gourmet range quickly caught the attention of SuperValu as we are always on the look out for quality local suppliers. “I must give credit to the team at SuperValu, they are super to work with and have been a great support to us” Cormac says.
“I must give credit to the team at SuperValu, they are super to work with and have been a great support to us”
In 2010 SuperValu included the brothers on their Enterprise Ireland ‘SuperValu Supplier Development Programme’. Cormac sites our support of local Irish companies and Irish jobs as giving Blue Haven the platform to drive their business forward.
The sudden dramatic move from running a small family company to supplying Ireland’s biggest retail chain comes as less of a surprise when Cormac explains what followed on from the initial success of their Sea Food Chowder. He tells us how they decided to build a range of fish products and their second product, the Kinsale Fish Pie, got a five star review in the Irish Times.
What came third in the category that the Kinsale Fish Pie won? The Blue Haven Smoked Salmon Pate of course. Talk about getting off to a flying start!
But when it comes to good seafood, it’s not like the Fitzgerald brothers were starting out hook, line and … bait. “The Blue Haven Hotel has always been known for its seafood and Kinsale has a strong fishing tradition and given that it is a gourmet town, my brother and I thought we would try a range of seafood products”.
“SuperValu opened up a lot of doors for us and helped us achieve what we wanted to do with our business and our brand. Without their support we probably wouldn’t be here today”
Surely running a hotel, albeit one with a great reputation and getting a successful gourmet start-up business off the ground are two different kettles of fish? Cormac explains that as well as being a dab hand in the kitchen he is also a bit of a whizz kid when it comes to crunching the numbers. “I also set up my own accounting practice 12 years ago. Having an accountancy background is a major help in any business”. In addition to their track record running businesses, both brothers profess a love of the game and thoroughly enjoy what they do.
But there is, perhaps, another personal trait that is a key ingredient in their success. The bait may catch the fish but it’s the early bird that catches the worm and Cormac is the early bird. “Luckily I only need four hours sleep a night and I do not smoke or drink, so I put a lot of extra hours into my business when others are asleep”.
Another key factor for success was the belief, one they share with SuperValu, in promoting local produce and suppliers. All the produce they use is fresh and locally sourced. They even have their own herb garden. “That opens a lot of doors for us when we go to new shops and tell them that everything is made with local produce” Cormac adds.
However, no matter how early you rise or how fresh your produce is, there are still some major hurdles for a new business to overcome. Cormac tells us how he feels the biggest challenge with any business is cash flow, and having the resources to invest in the business and getting the right personnel in place. “We have a very strong management team now. It is a tough market out there but thankfully we are still seeing growth” he says adding the good news that their sales are up about 200% this year.
Increased demand meant Blue Haven had to move to larger premises and from their humble beginnings at the site. The company now employs 125 people at their facility in Little Island, Cork.
Working with SuperValu has been critical to the family firm’s continuing growth. “It opened up a lot of doors for us and helped us achieve what we wanted to do with our business and our brand. Without SuperValu’s support we probably wouldn’t be here today”.
SuperValu’s vote of confidence has not just helped create and maintain 125 local jobs, it’s also fuelling further growth. Cormac says that there is a knock on effect from the fact they supply SuperValu as it a vote of confidence that opens up doors with other customers.