23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
How Cork's Good Fish Company became a leviathan of the international frozen-fish industry
Ireland's EU Commissioner, Michael McGrath, along with Fisheries & Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis and Minister of State Timmy Dooley, were on hand to cut the tape at the new facility.
Founder Denis Good opened his first shop almost 40 years ago in Carrigaline and quickly began to supply restaurants across Cork. Two retail units in Douglas Court and Kinsale followed, with seven shops open at the height of the company's focus on retail operations.
The company, which employs over 100 people, then expanded into exporting its products to new overseas markets and demand soared, necessitating the new processing facility that's strategically located adjacent to Cork Container Terminal.
Proximity to the port allows immediate export of the fish and seafood processed on site and as well the new M28 motorway (due to open in 2028) means the company will be able to easily transport its products throughout Ireland.
'We are delighted Commissioner McGrath, Commissioner Kadis, and Minister Dooley were able to join us for the official opening of our new location, just two kilometres from Cork's new container terminal,' Donagh Good said.
'Building the facility was essential for us to maintain our current growth and to respond strongly to the ever-increasing demand for high-quality frozen seafood products in the domestic market, in Europe, and further afield.'
'Our focus has always been to provide sustainably sourced fish and seafood and ensuring good quality from dockside to dinner tables. That ethos remains unchanged, though customers are getting more adventurous in their tastes!
"Sustainable practices are at the core of processes at our new facility, so we foresee further development, new markets, a stronger and more capable workforce, and exciting times in our new home in Shanbally, thanks to the support of everyone that helped bring this investment to life," Donagh added.
Commissioner McGrath said: 'I am delighted to welcome this incredibly impressive new facility by the Good Fish Company - an extraordinary Cork success story I've long admired and known personally. The journey started in 1988 when Denis Good opened a fish shop in Carrigaline and now, under the leadership of his son Donagh, the company is opening a state of the art, next generation processing facility in Shanbally.
'With vital EU and Government of Ireland funding behind it, this investment is a major contribution to enhancing Ireland's seafood sector supporting employment and demonstrating the EU's commitment to rural enterprise and innovation. I wish the Good family and their staff continued success in the years ahead.'
Good Fish has received support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, and Ireland's Seafood Development Programme, which is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the EU as part of the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.
'This factory marks the beginning of another new chapter in the Good Fish story,' Donagh Good concluded. 'Building on more than 35 years of hard work, innovation, and dedication that came before me, we're excited about the developments to come while maintaining the same high-quality standards in service and products that Good Fish is renowned for.'
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
