MARRBURY SMOKEHOUSE

Husband-and-wife team Vincent and Ruby Marr started their business in 1996, fishing the River Cree in southwest Scotland. Their salmon is served in Michelinstarred restaurants, but you can also buy it through their shop, bistro and website. Ruby tells us more...

What’s so special about your salmon? Vincent cures and smokes it by hand over whisky cask chippings and juniper berries and it’s his care of each batch that makes it so special. The smokehouse is just 50 feet away from our home, so it’s not a nine-to-five job.

Why did you decide to start smoking salmon? Vincent worked as chief smoker for another company, but was becoming disheartened by the focus on profit over quality. When he came home one day in 1995, I looked outside at our tiny piece of land and said, ‘Right… let’s do it ourselves!’ What’s your favourite of the products you sell? It has to be our traditional smoked salmon. Out of the 20-plus products we create, it still blows my mind when I taste it. What’s the best way to serve your salmon? It needs nothing more than a wedge of lemon, a few capers and some chopped red onion. Tell us something we might not know about the British salmon industry? Salmon are graded and, depending on how they have been farmed, can vary hugely in quality. Ours is superior grade raised in fast-flowing water and the quality is always consistent.

What’s the best thing about running your business? Our marriage is not only to one another, but also to Marrbury Smokehouse, so we get to do what we love.

Three words to sum up your company? Passion, pride and consistency.

Marrbury Smokehouse, marrbury.co.uk