The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Artisan sea salt adds pinch of island flavour to new butter from family dairy
Fusion of family businesses sees Isle of Skye sea salt butter hit the market for the first time, writes Julia Bryce
One of Scotland’s leading dairy firms has teamed up with an artisan producer to bring a new sea salt butter to the market.
Graham’s The Family Dairy, which is based in Bridge of Allan, and Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company have developed the product together which is now available in Spar and Tesco stores.
Coming from the first salt company on the Isle of Skye in more than 300 years, the butter will be made with its unrefined sea salt and milk from Graham’s 100 Scottish farmers.
Collaborating for the first time, Meena and Chris Watts were delighted to be approached by a company the size of Graham’s and spent months working with the team in an effort to get the product to market.
Meena said: “Graham’s actually approached us a while ago and had this idea of offering a salted butter.
“The butter is made at their premises and we send the salt over to them.
“It is brilliant for us as we are a small artisan company and to be in partnership with a producer like Graham’s is great.”
The husband and wife team established the company in 2011 on the Sleat peninsula and since then have used their experience in sustainable development projects to bring the salt company to life.
Meena said: “We moved to the Isle of Skye around 13 years ago but before that both of us had lots of experience in both people-related sustainable development projects and eco-build features, too.”
Initially they bought the cottage they previously rented for holidays, then built their own eco-home and began looking for a way to top up their income.
“This led to a few dinner events with friends talking about what we might do, and one led on to sea salt.
“We kind of forgot about it and one day I just heard
Chris say ‘sea salt’ as he was looking out on to the sea loch.
“It really was a eureka moment.”
Chris spent 18 months researching how they could produce something that was totally sustainable.
“We spent a lot of time and experimented quite a bit,” said Meena.
“It took a while for us to find the right packaging and we wanted a contemporary Scottish feel to it.
“A few of our friends joined the company initially, but we are now the sole owners of it again.”
Chris devised a plan to protect the harvest from the Scottish elements, including rain, by using poly tunnels to ensure he could successfully make salt on the island.
He said: “We chose the site because it is on the loch shore and is at a very wide point so the water is very clean.”
The loch has very high quality water and water from it is removed at high tide, when it is at its freshest.
“Essentially I manoeuvre myself along some rocks and throw the hose into it,” said Chris.
“The pump then pumps the water into a filter and we filter down to about 25 microns which is below eyesight level.
“The water going into the poly tunnels is really clean.
“The process is essentially the sun heating the poly tunnel which has a pond of water on the base of it. “As the sun heats the water, it begins to evaporate. “Wind blows through the poly tunnel and clears the saturated air so the cycle can begin again.
“It is a continuous cycle and we do it through the April to September months when there is enough heat from the sun to do so.
It took a while for us to find the right packaging and we wanted a contemporary Scottish feel to it
“It is very weather dependent so if it is very sunny we can get a harvest in 10 to 12 days and for cooler times, it could be three to four weeks.”
The single stage evaporation process used is unique to the firm, many other salt producers across the UK use vacuum evaporation or vacuum distillation instead.
The method Chris uses ensures all the minerals and elements found in the sea are retained in the product.
He added: “We have three operation ponds and each of them will produce a couple of hundred kilos in each harvest.
“We are a very small producer and make around two tonnes a year.
“We evaporate the sea into the salt crystals. “There’s no filtering other than what we do initially to get bits of seaweed out.
“There’s no refining of it and just a single stage evaporation.”
While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be a challenging time for many, Meena and Chris are grateful for the support they receive from loyal customers.
Meena said: “We continue to get very steady orders and that motivates us and get lyrical letters from our customers saying how much they love it.
“That is super motivating at times like this.” The firm has won numerous awards and featured on several television shows – a further two should be broadcast early next year.
“We are very involved in what we do and we started off thinking this would be something we could top up our income with but, in reality, we’ve just channelled everything back into the business,” said Meena.
“You have to be really committed to it and give your heart and soul to it.
“Our pure eco-friendly sea salt resonates so well with the natural beauty of Skye as a brand.
“We produce a top-quality Scottish product loved by chefs and food lovers across the country and are very excited that Graham’s latest butter now includes our sea salt.”