After five years of research and development, The Scottish Salmon Company is presenting its own brand of specially-bred wild salmon: Native Hebridean.
It’s The Scottish Salmon Company’s first visit to Anuga Food Tec in Cologne, the yearly five-day fair for food innovation.
“So far we only went to Brussels each year, but because of the introduction of our new salmon brand we decided to exhibit at Anuga as well,” said the company’s head of sales, Morna Marr.
“We have been developing this salmon for five years. We bred wild salmon from our own brood stock and put lots of the time, investment and expertise of our company in it. Now we can introduce native Hebridean salmon, 100 percent Scottish, from egg to fish.”
The Hebridean salmon is farmed in the company’s farm site closest to the Atlantic Ocean.
“This way its natural environment is as close to the wild as possible. We also developed a special diet, more in line with natural feed. We did this in cooperation with our feed providers.”
The new introduction is very suitable for sushi, she added.
“It’s very different from other farmed Atlantic salmon. The meat is firmer and it is higher in Omega 3.”
The Scottish Salmon Company has taken Native Hebridean to Scottish top chefs for blind tastings, she continued.
“They preferred it because of the texture and flavor. It is less fatty.”
She is not concerned that the new salmon will be a competitor to the company’s ‘regular’ salmon.
“It’s a very different product, for a different market, and with a different price. We want to position it in the right market: gastronomy and high end retail.“
Second largest export product
The Scottish Salmon Company is taking part in the Scottish regional pavilion at Anuga, together with other food products like whisky and cheese.
“Salmon is Scotlands number two export article, after whisky,” said her colleague Judy Allan. “Hopefully we will be number one in the near future.”
The Scottish Salmon Company, head quarted in Edinburgh, consists of 65 farms, employs 350 people and produces 25,000 tonnes of salmon each year. The company also sells salmon under Label Rouge.
“We are the third largest salmon company in Scotland. We started very small 25 years ago under a different name, and several of our farmers have been with us since the start,” said Allan.
“We have two processing plants, in Cairndow and in Marybank. In the latter we process pre-rigor fillets. We are the only company in Scotland that does that.”
The company’s largest customer base, with about 55 percent, is Great Britain, followed by Europe, the Middle East and the US.
