Passion for provenance
Leading the way with heritage brands and new smoked salmon range
PEOPLE are at the very heart of The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) and we employ more than 600 staff across the west coast of Scotland and the Hebrides – many areas which are described by Highlands and Islands Enterprise as fragile rural economies. As a major employer in these remote communities, people are integral to our business. Their passion, dedication and expertise are essential ingredients in producing the finest quality Scottish salmon.
We now operate over 60 sites along the west coast of Scotland and the Hebrides and are headquartered in Edinburgh. We produce around 30,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon each year.
We are focused on responsible business growth, and central to this is our focus on developing exports, retaining value and driving employment in the rural communities in which we live and work.
Sustainable production of healthy and nutritious food will increase to meet the demands of the growing global population.
Salmon is one of the most energy efficient ways of producing protein, and the develop
ment of the salmon farming industry has brought prosperity to many coastal areas, generating new job opportunities, investment in local economies and retaining value in Scotland. In line with the Scottish government’s pledge to create a healthier and wealthier nation is our focus on supplying healthy, locally produced food while investing in the local economy. Scottish salmon, as the UK’s largest food export, plays an integral role in the growth of the food sector. The Scottish Salmon Company is the leading salmon producer exclusively farming in Scotland, and we recognise our role in producing responsibly, and providing a nutritious quality food with Scottish provenance guaranteed.
Recognising the importance of provenance to our business, SSC is committed to responsible stewardship of the unique natural environment in which we farm. We pursue global best practice and were the first salmon producer in the UK to be awarded three star Best Aquaculture Practice (BAP) certification.
In addition, we conduct our operations in accordance with the industry’s Code of Good Practice and Community Engagement Charter.
Our own Community Charter brings our values of pride, passion and provenance to life and details our commitment to working closely with our people, suppliers and communities.
Our commitment to Scottish provenance and the finest quality standards set us apart in the international marketplace and represent our key differentiators.
Providing value for customers and delivering winning brand propositions for consumers will further underpin our export efforts.
We have developed a range of strong flagship export brands with a trademark of ‘Scottish Provenance Guaranteed’:
• Native Hebridean Salmon – a truly unique and native strain of Scottish salmon descended from wild stock from North Uist, Native Herbidean Salmon is reared exclusively in the Hebrides. Our broodstock programme has been in development for more than 10 years and has garnered international acclaim due to its distinctive heritage, taste and nutritional value. We have also just introduced our first smoked salmon, available in a range of premium cuts targeted at speciality export customers. • Lochlander Salmon – launched in March 2018, this premium export brand was introduced exclusively to the North American market in response to research highlighting consumer trends of increased demand for quality, traceability and Scottish provenance. It is tailored specifically for restaurateurs, up-market hotels and top class chefs. • Tartan Salmon Label Rouge – established by the French Ministry of Agriculture, the Label Rouge accreditation certifies superior taste and recognises food products which meet strict criteria on quality, husbandry, feed and traceability. SSC is the leading supplier of Label Rouge. We launched Tartan Salmon Label Rouge to further differ
“We recognise our role in producing responsibly, and providing a nutritious quality food’”
entiate our offering in the marketplace and introduced innovative retail ready fillets as part of our consumer focused range. We are currently developing a sashimi cut for sushi. Targeted at high end retailers and chefs, it is particularly popular in France, where Scottish salmon is the first non-French food to be awarded this prestigious certification. At our stand, ‘Provenance Guaranteed’, at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, customers will be offered the chance to sample our delicate Native Hebridean Smoked Salmonour unique native strain, descended from wild stock from North Uist.
Farmed exclusively in the waters surrounding the Hebrides, it is harvested and delivered fresh to our Stornoway smokehouse.
Fillets are hand cured with our blend of finely crushed sea salt and demerara sugar before being laid out for the aromatic oak kiln smoke.
Our innovative smoking process minimises water usage, reducing environmental impact, and we are the only producer to smoke salmon pre-rigor.
This product offers a globally unique proposition: Hebridean provenance and heritage, firmer texture, dedicate flavour and end-toend supply chain integrity and traceability.
Native Hebridean Salmon is a heritage brand. Its traceability, lineage and covetable ‘Produce of the Isles’ branding is unique in the marketplace.
“Evolution has conditioned our salmon to prosper in these nutrient waters” rich
We have been proactive in leveraging this cultural capital to access customers who place a premium on provenance and quality.
All our Native Hebridean Salmon’s genetic lineage and heritage can be traced to the wild salmon sourced from the freshwater loch systems in North Uist, and they have been reared in the waters surrounding the Inner and Outer Hebrides.
They are heir to an ancestral bloodline stretching back millennia and are only reared in Hebridean freshwater and sea lochs. Evolution has conditioned our salmon to prosper in these nutrient rich, though cold and turbulent, waters where they have thrived for generations.
It is this genetic lineage and heritage, together with the geographical environment and Hebridean provenance, that makes our Native Hebridean Salmon unique and produces a naturally robust, firmer fish and superior flesh quality.
Our brand ambassador, Gary Maclean (Scotland’s National Chef and MasterChef The Professionals winner), has visited our smokehouse, situated on the picturesque Scottish island of Lewis, and all other stages of the production process.
His advocacy adds credibility when targeting leading chefs and highend restaurants and his passion for the product also helps us tell the brand story.
An exciting new development for the business in 2018 was the £3.6 million acquisition of the Harris & Lewis Smokehouse on the Isle of Lewis. The smokehouse and restaurant, based in the Hebrides, represent a new consumer facing focus for our business and extend our value chain to ‘ready to eat’ smoked salmon, as well as allowing us to showcase our salmon in the local community.
It is also key in our wider plans to develop more consumer facing brands – one of the core opportunities for our business in the next five years.
Our exports have more than doubled since 2011, currently accounting for around 60 per cent of revenue. Growing our presence in North America and the Far East remains our biggest opportunity, and our strategy focuses on identifying niche market opportunities underpinned by our commitment to Scottish provenance.
The Scottish Salmon Company will be at the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, on the Scottish Pavilion in Hall 9, stand 4217.