Carlingford Oyster Company Launches "Alanna", a New Cocktail-Size Oyster, with Public Sampling at Bloom in the Phoenix Park

Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland--(Newsfile Corp. - May 15, 2026) - Carlingford Oyster Company, the family-owned oyster farm working in Carlingford Lough since 1974, has launched a new smaller-format oyster called Alanna. The name is taken from the Irish term of endearment for a loved one or a precious thing, and is also the name of Kian and Mary Louët-Feisser's eldest daughter.

Carlingford Oyster Company

The launch marks the third oyster in the company's range, sitting alongside the standard Carlingford oyster and the premium hand-selected Louët-Feisser oyster. First deliveries of Alanna were dispatched in early April 2026, and the oyster is now being supplied to leading restaurants and fishmongers across Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Members of the public will be able to taste Alanna oysters for the first time at Bloom, the annual gardening and food festival in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, from 28 May to 1 June 2026. Carlingford Oyster Company sampled over 3,000 oysters at Bloom last year and is returning this year with the full range, including the new Alanna.

Kian Louët-Feisser: "After 50+ years we've finally cracked it"

Cocktail-size oysters are well established in fine dining, but producing them to a consistent specification, with the flavour of a fully mature oyster, is technically demanding.

Kian Louët-Feisser, who now runs Carlingford Oyster Company, said:

"These smaller-size oysters have always been my favourite to enjoy. They are the ones I'll take home for myself or bring over to a friend's house. It's actually quite a challenge to grow a smaller oyster that has the full balanced flavour of bigger more mature oysters, but I think after 50+ years we've finally cracked it."

According to the family, Alanna oysters are sweet, delicate and carry the same mineral and tannic finish that Carlingford Lough is known for, in a smaller shell.

Three oysters, one lough

Carlingford Oyster Company now produces three distinct oysters, each grown in the same Class A waters of Carlingford Lough but selected and graded for different uses.

The Carlingford oyster is the company's everyday oyster, supplied to restaurants and fishmongers across Ireland and the UK. The Louët-Feisser premium oyster is hand-selected, with a tear-drop shape, a strong shell and a smooth pearly white enamel. Alanna is the new smaller cocktail-size oyster, designed for tasting flights, lighter starters, and chefs who want a delicate format alongside larger specimens.

A short film showing how the oysters are grown, shucked and eaten on the lough is available in this YouTube video: Oyster Farming, Oyster Shucking and How to Eat an Oyster with Carlingford Oysters.

Cannot view this video? Visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY6tRNDoJqw

A multi-award-winning premium brand

The Louët-Feisser premium oyster has built a strong reputation at competition level over more than a decade.

The brand was awarded the gold medal at the 2015 Cloudy Bay British Oyster Championships, and has received 3-star Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Foods in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. In 2021 it was awarded the Great Taste Golden Fork, one of the most prestigious recognitions in food and drink across the UK and Ireland.

Closer to home, the company has won gold, silver and bronze awards at the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards over the years.

The Alanna range is grown, graded and finished to the same standards as the Louët-Feisser premium oyster.

Why Carlingford Lough produces a distinctive oyster

Carlingford Lough is a sea inlet on the east coast of Ireland, forming part of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The waters are classified as Class A by the European Union, the highest grade available for live bivalve mollusc production, meaning oysters can be eaten directly from the lough without further processing.

A single oyster filters over 55 litres of water a day, and a Carlingford oyster takes around three years to reach market size. The exchange of water on every tide brings in fresh nutrients, and streams carrying minerals and nutrients down from the surrounding mountain ranges add a distinctive flavour the family describes as sweet and slightly nutty, finishing with a tannic, lingering aftertaste.

Food safety and traceability

Even though the lough's Class A classification permits direct consumption, all Carlingford oysters are placed in purification tanks before dispatch. The company recently doubled the size of its purification facility to allow extended cycles and pre-dispatch testing for E. coli, norovirus, biotoxins, and salmonella.

Sampling is carried out by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), with every shipment carrying a batch code.

Where to find Alanna oysters

Alanna oysters are now being supplied to leading restaurants and fishmongers across Ireland and the UK, including outlets in London. The company is in conversation with additional stockists.

Members of the public can sample Alanna at Bloom in the Phoenix Park, 28 May to 1 June 2026, where Carlingford Oyster Company will be returning after sampling more than 3,000 oysters at the festival last year.

About Carlingford Oyster Company

Carlingford Oyster Company is a family-run oyster farm based at Mullatee, Carlingford, County Louth, on the southern shore of Carlingford Lough, with the Cooley Mountains to the south and the Mourne Mountains in County Down visible to the north.

The company was founded in 1974 by Peter Louët-Feisser, who had sailed into Carlingford Lough in the late 1960s on a wooden yacht he built himself, accompanied by his wife Anna, and settled in the area drawn by the lough's natural shelter and the rhythm of life along the shoreline. He began farming oysters in 1974, and the business has been family-run ever since.

The farm is now run by Peter's son Kian Louët-Feisser and his wife Mary, with the wider family involved in operations and the next generation helping out during school holidays.

Carlingford Oyster Company produces three oysters: the Carlingford oyster, the multi-award-winning premium Louët-Feisser oyster, and the new cocktail-size Alanna oyster. The Louët-Feisser brand is a winner of the 2015 Cloudy Bay British Oyster Championships gold medal and the 2021 Great Taste Golden Fork.

Media contact 
Kian Louët-Feisser 
Carlingford Oyster Company 
info@carlingfordoystercompany.ie 
+353 42 9373800 / +353 42 9373367 
carlingfordoystercompany.ie

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