Kish Fish of Bow Street Dublin has won the BIM Retailer of the Year Award. The new award programme, developed and run by BIM for members of IASC (Irish Association of Seafood Companies), recognises and rewards retailers who sell quality seafood in a professional, knowledgeable manner.

Speaking at the recent awards ceremony held in Galway, Mr Tadgh O'Meara, Director of Kish Fish said: "This is a tremendous honour for all the staff at Kish Fish. The whole team works tremendously hard at maintaining the highest standards of quality, hygiene and customer service and to have won the award for the first time is an amazing achievement."

"Quality is central to everything we do at Kish Fish. No effort is spared to ensure that every item we handle enters and leaves our premises in premium condition. We have been in the business for forty years and have seen a great decline in the numbers of independent specialist fishmonger retailers during that time," he said. "However, in recent years we have seen renewed growth and a resurgence in the business. I believe this is partly due to public information campaigns by organisations such as BIM highlighting the healthy food option provided from seafood as well as an overall improvement in standards in the trade, which is helping to drive increased demand for seafood by consumers and the food service industry. While we have a long history of processing and wholesaling, we saw the opportunity to establish a retail arm of the business some years ago. This retail side of the business has over that time gone from strength to strength and is now an important part of our business.''

Commenting on the awards John Hackett Seafood & Promotions Advisor at BIM said "The overall standard of competition for the inaugural year of the awards was extremely high. I believe this is good news for Ireland's seafood producers and consumers and anticipate the attainment of this new retail award will become more competitive. These awards are aimed at improving the quality of fresh fish retail outlets and rewarding those retailers who attain the highest standards," said Martina Clarke, Development Executive of IASC. "The success and growth of IASC over the past four years has been in no small part assisted by the advice and support of BIM and I would like to acknowledge the role they played and continue to play."

Established in 2002, IASC develops, promotes and represents the interests of independent seafood retailers and processors in Ireland and has more than 80 member companies. IASC's core activities are to build the profile of independent retailers and processors, co-ordinate effective member networking, provide information and training support, develop promotion and marketing initiatives, actively represent and lobby member interests, and negotiate group savings and discounts.

Entry to the awards competition is restricted to members of IASC and is judged by experienced BIM personnel supported by an independent third party. Each entrant received a minimum of two unannounced visits.

The following criteria was used when judging:

Observations of exterior and interior of premises;

Food safety & hygiene; Seafood display;

Labelling; Customer service;

Product knowledge and Technical ability.

Each criterion was weighted relevant to its importance for the delivery of a quality service and product to consumers.