Smoked trout for the christmas season

Selling lots of our new hot smoked trout for the Christmas. It makes a nice change from the traditional smoked salmon.Went to Arkeen Stores last week and they were as supportive as ever.We as artisan food producers should do something to spread the word about those guys. If every town in Ireland had a store like that we would all be in heaven.!!
Went to Supervalue last Saturday and Woodstock Christmas fair on Sunday. I hope Santa is organised because I have lots to do. Back to Loughboy in kilkenny tomorrow to do a promotion with Paul from Tess's bakery so see you there.
P.S. Goatsbridge smoked trout is a great present and makes a change from the usual predictable box of chocolates. !!
Happy christmas.P.S.check out my Twitter page:@twitter.com/goatsbridge

Nevin McGuire cookery Demonstration

Nevin McGuire participated in a cookery demonstration in aid of some worthy Kilkenny charities a few weeks ago . He kindly decided to showcase our new hot smoked completely boneless rainbow trout . He made a buttery smoked trout sauce to accompany roasted haddock. it tasted delicious . We swapped some trout for his latest cookery book at the end of the night. I think he is the food version of Daniel O Donnell.!! Really lovely guy.

Goatsbridge Trout farm &Ann Neary Cookery Demonstration Tour.

Ann Neary from Ryland house cookery school has been kind enough to come on a mini tour with Goatsbridge Trout Farm to help promote our product and educate the public in the art of cooking trout. We began out three day tour in Borris where we cooked for 50 members of the active retirement groups. We then went to Kells in Co. Kilkenny where we were greeted by 30 locals and we ended our tour in Callan Co. Kilkenny where showed over 200 mostly ladies just how good our product is. People are really excited to hear about the new innovation used to product the first completely boneless trout fillet in this country.

Savour Kilkenny Product Launch

Goatsbridge Trout farm launched their first added value product at the annual Savour kilkenny Festival this October. This hot smoked completely boneless product will be available in retail outlets early next year. It can be found locally in all the speciality food stores throughout the south east. The product featured on all the tasting menus over the course of the weekend and was a big hit with chiefs and consumers alike. Check out the savour kilkenny website at http://www.savourkilkenny.com/

Goatsbridge Trout visit Sunburst tout farm

Heading over to have a look at the Sunburst Trout Company Canton, North Carolina on 14th October. They have been adding value to trout for the last 10 years. Hope to learn nor only about that process but all aspects of trout farming.

Goatsbridge Trout exibit at SHOP09

We met a lot of our existing retailers in the 3 days spent in the RDS, Dublin. It is very important to be there to cement relationships and we will certainly be there next year. We did a lot of networking and learned a lot of useful information from fellow food producers. Alas, we did not get any prize for our first added value product, our hot smoked rainbow trout fillet which is the first boneless one to be available in Ireland. Maybe next year!

Goatsbridge Trout exibit at National Ploughing Championships

National Ploughing Championships on the lands of Eamon and Willie Fennin, Cardenton, Athy Co Kildare. We had 3 very hectic days at the show. We meet with many of our customers and also had a chance to meet our very own Taoiseace Brian Cowen. Ted Walsh popped by to say hello having heard Ivan Yeats raving on about us with Clair Byrne on radio.

Goatsbridge Trout visit of trout farms in Gdansk Poland

Went to visit 4 trout farms in Gdansk Poland. Unlike the more developed world these guys can make something out of nothing. Spent 5 days travelling around and brought home many simple ideas. Have installed some oxygen cones sourced on that trip which means we can now oxygenate our first 6 ponds for young fish, which is vital during the summer months.

Goatsbridge Trout Open Day

Open day on the farm. We have developed the farm as a tourist attraction and had an open day for invited guests to come and see for themselves how we farm our fish and our commitment to a sustainable world. It was a roaring success and we had many celebrities many of whom have written very favorably about their ‘wonderful day’ Darina Allen was still making tea for herself at 9 that night and Kevin Dundon has promised to bring his kids back to visit us very soon.

Goatsbridge Trout visit European seafood trade show Brussels

Went to Brussels to the European seafood trade show. Our aim was to look at equipment to help automate our processes. We finally met the man who had claimed to have invented the first machine that removed the small pin bones from small portion trout fillets. One look and we were satisfied have searched for such a machine for years. We purchased there and then. We also met the owned of Baader, the German company who manufacture the best trout filleting machines in the world. We attended their 85 year celebration in the Atonium in the heart of Brussels and managed to win the heart of its owner a Mrs Mullier who is 74 and who could associate with me as a woman in a man’s industry. She practically gave us a deal we could not refuse so it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. We now have a Baader 221 with only 6 hours on the clock for almost half of the recommended selling price!

Goatsbridge Trout visit International Seafood Tradeshow in Boston

Went to the International Seafood Tradeshow in Boston on St. Patrick’s weekend. We spent 3 full days looking at what was happening in the rest of the world regarding the seafood industry especially in relation to adding value to Trout. There were 3 companies producing trout and we were invited to visit Sunburst Trout Farm in North Carolina, USA.