Gone fishing

O'Cathain Iasc Teo is one of Ireland's premier producers of fresh and frozen pelagic and demersal fish. John Loughran visited the company at its Dingle, Co. Kerry headquarters.

Where fishing meets haulage

O'Cathain Iasc Teo is a wholly owned and run family business. To pigeon-hole the company, which employs in excess of 300 skilled staff, as solely a fish processor, pays the Kane family, which set up the company in 1973, a huge disservice. There is a whole lot more to this enterprise than fish processing.

O'Cathain Iasc Teo specialises in inshore and deep sea fishing, fish processing and finally chilled and frozen fish distribution. Its three strands of activity are woven together to form a seamless business entity.
The company's fleet of 16 vessels (10 inshore and 6 deep sea) are equipped with the most modern refrigeration and ice making facilities, which ensures O'Cathain Iasc Teo produces only the very best quality fresh seafood.

From inception the company has been involved in numerous acquisitions and partnerships, which has considerably boosted its presence in both the fishing and fish processing sectors.

Cormac Tangney strikes a pose

Through shareholdings in companies such as Mara Moor Teo, Armada Investments Ltd, Lariva Ltd and Pesca Coruna O'Cathain Iasc Teo can boast a fleet of 16 fishing vessels, the largest of which is the MV Galaxia, a deep sea gill netter, which was totally refurbished and launched in 1998.

The company also has major shareholdings in Scwanner Fisch Gmbh, and PescaCoruna. These strategic shareholdings gives O'Cathain Iasc Teo significant exposure in the fishing and processing sectors.
Schwanner Fisch Gmbh, for example, runs a large canning factory in Rostock, Germany, which produces fish soups, canned Herring and Mackerel products in various sauces and aspic jelly. The company also specialises in marinated cooked Herring in jars.

Similarly, PescaCoruna, based in La Coruna in Northern Spain runs the company's deep-sea fleet and manages the sales of its products to supermarkets throughout the country.

The company purchased this Scania from T Nolan & Sons

Closer to home O'Cathain Iasc Teo's fish processing facilities in Dingle are amongst the most advanced in Europe allowing the company to fillet, chill or freeze 100 tonnes of fish per day. The facility is equipped with state-of-the art ice making facilities, cold storage and chill rooms which are used to store Mackerel, Herring, Sprat, Tuna and Horse Mackerel as well as numerous species of white fish, prawns and live Lobster and Crayfish

In 2002 the company completed an E1.5 million expansion programme, which hugely improved its processing capabilities. The expansion programme included the installation of a new freezing facility, which enables the company to freeze its products in cartons on trolleys.

A new computerised bagging line, which allows the company to bag fresh and frozen products in weights from 500 grams to two kilos was also installed. The bagging system has bar coding facilities and also incorporates production and sell-by dates and a fully automatic sealing system.

Company director Rickie Kane commented: "O'Cathain Iasc Teo is dedicated to providing the highest quality produce. With this in mind, we are already planning for future expansion, which will include the construction of a new holding room for frozen product."

In west Cork, Clanawley Ltd which is jointly owned by O'Cathain Iasc Teo and Paul and Mary Younger produces consumer packs of Langoustine, Dublin Bay Prawns, Scampi and Cigals for the French, Italian and Spanish markets.
To facilitate the distribution of the company's chilled and frozen produce in Ireland and across Europe, the company runs an ultra-modern fleet of trucks and trailers. "We run five 2003 Scania 540s, which we find to be very reliable. We would also have an extensive fleet of modern trailers,” Rickie remarked.

O'Cathain Iasc Teo is intent on focusing on its core activities of fishing, fish processing and distribution. To that end, the company is happy to let others take care of issues such as repairs and maintenance.
Rickie elaborated: "We have contract maintenance agreements on all of the trucks. Our strengths lie in fishing, processing and distribution. We don't want the hassle associated with maintaining trucks, that is why we opt for contract maintenance."

To complement the company's own fleet, O'Cathain Iasc Teo also utilises a number of sub-contract hauliers. "We would use about 10 or 12 hauliers at any given time. They are mostly based in Kerry, but we have access to hauliers all over the country," he explained.

The company has no aspirations to expand its transport fleet above its existing level. "We are happy running the five trucks. Our game is fishing and processing not transport. That is why we use outside hauliers. We find sub-contract haulage to be cost effective, and the hauliers we use, give us a very good service."

O'Cathain Iasc Teo prides itself on offering its customers a quality product and unrivalled levels of customer service. To that end, the company only uses hauliers with the ability to deliver a first class service. "Reliability is the most important issue. These hauliers represent our company, so they have to come up to our standards."

He continued: "They must have the equipment required to do the job. We look for hauliers that are running modern trucks and refrigerated trailers. Price is also an important consideration."
To that end O'Cathain Iasc Teo has developed strategic alliances with up to a dozen hauliers, many of whom have been hauling on behalf of the company from more than a decade. "Quite a few of them have been hauling for us for the last 10 years or so. They know all of our customers, and our customers' requirements. In fairness to them, they do a very good job representing the company," he remarked.

As one of Ireland's leading fish processors O'Cathain Iasc Teo is able to offer its sub-contract hauliers gainful and profitable all-year-round employment. "We are fishing all year round for different species. That means the processing plant is working all year round and so are the hauliers, Rickie explained.

Despite ever-tightening EU legislation and dwindling fish quotas O'Cathain Iasc Teo is continually looking to the future. Further capital investment in its fishing fleet and processing plant is in the pipeline. That spells good news for its customers in China, the Far East and mainland Europe as well as its some yet select band of sub-contract hauliers.