Sushi King

Sushi King

Sushi King was founded by Audrey Gargan in 2006 after Audrey took a year out from her marketing career to travel the world. While backpacking across the globe, Audrey had her fair share of exciting and enriching experiences, including trying new cuisines from around the world. This is when she developed her love for sushi.

Upon returning home, she realised that there was little sushi available in Ireland and that this might be a gap in the market worth exploring. Sushi King Baggot Street opened its doors on 1^st August 2006.

Sushi King Logo

Sushi King began serving local customers with fresh sushi made on site each morning. The menu was further expanded to include a range of Asian hot food dishes such as Katsu and noodles that proved very popular with customers.

Audrey then began to receive a number of requests from third party retailers and food service companies to supply fresh sushi. In order to facilitate this change in direction, Sushi King moved production to a commercial kitchen and purchased its first van.

The business now supplies a diverse range of award-winning products that includes sushi, salads and ready meals to a wide range of customers across Ireland.

Becoming Self Employed

“I think I always envisaged myself as self-employed, I was probably waiting on getting some career experience under my belt and coming up with a half decent idea. I was then offered a redundancy and I thought to myself, “It is now or never”.” Audrey tells us.

High Quality, Consistent & Reliable

Audrey believes that Sushi King has weathered the storm of both the 2008 recession and the Covid-19 pandemic due to their resilience and perseverance. By never faltering on quality and reliability, Sushi King has remained one of the top sushi producers in their industry.

“Initially we were offering a unique, high-quality product at a reasonable price that was not widely available but now I think the fact that we have endured the past number of years and have retained our reputation as a consistent and reliable supplier.”

Challenges & Opportunities

“The biggest challenge was surviving the economic crash, however more recently the effects of Covid on the supply chain has been very stressful, consistently facing delays and price increases of inputs.

One of the biggest opportunities has been being part of Food Academy- that has allowed us to reach customers over the entire country.”

Food Academy is a tailored Food Business Development programme created by a collaboration of Local Enterprise Offices, SuperValu and Bord Bia which aims to develop Ireland’s artisan food industry.

There are now over 300 Food Academy small producers in Supervalu stores and half of all Food Academy participants expect sales to increase by 50% or more over the next 12 months.

Changing Direction

After closing their Baggot Street location after the pandemic, Audrey focused more on their pre-packaged retail products and catering services.

“Following on from Covid, the shift to working from home allowed us to supply a more diverse range of customers and locations.”

Stand Out Moment

“Winning our first gold at our first Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards gave us a bit of confidence and reassurance that we were on the right path.”

Sushi King achieved the Bridgestone Award for excellence in food back in 2006 and are proud to have successfully held onto it since! In 2011, Sushi King entered The Irish Food Awards Blas na hEireann and The Great Taste Awards and achieved Gold at both. Since 2011 they have annually entered these competitions and have been delighted to take home awards every year.

LEO Supports

Sushi King has benefitted from a range of LEO Supports including;

Business Expansion Grants
Mentoring
Dublin Food Chain
Food Academy
QQI Certificate in Social Media & Digital Marketing & many more

“LEO Dublin City and the Dublin Food Chain are two great sources of assistance for small food businesses in Dublin. Sushi King has received invaluable backing through mentoring, training courses and financial support. It is great to know there is a network of people who are only too delighted to help.”

The Future

Audrey wants to take sushi King to the next level building a bigger and brighter future for her company.

“I’m planning on expanding our product range as well as our network”

Advice for New Entrepreneurs

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to your local LEO and ask for advice. The guidance from an industry mentor is invaluable. Try to engage with a profession bookkeeping/accountancy company as soon as possible. Keep the faith!”

Sushi King bowls Sushi King Noodles