New markets for premium product
EXPORTS are LochDuart’s main business driver, with 70 per cent of the company’s annual output sold to more than 20 countries last year.
China is a new market, with the first sales planned to start in September, and Loch Duart co-founder and sales director Andy Bing said a Chinese film crew was visiting Scourie so they could communicate the business and its key messages on traceability, sustainability, welfare and quality to potential customers. ‘We’ve always gone to markets where people see the unique selling points we have, and sometimes they prioritise these benefits in a different way,’ said Bing. ‘In Europe, issues such as welfare, taste and sustainability are top priority.
In China, we learn that healthiness and traceability are paramount.’ Loch Duart is the first company in the northern hemisphere to partner with Oritain, the New Zealand based specialists in scientifically proving the origin of food products.
The system is a means of helping the company protect its brand and prevent unscrupulous suppliers trying to pass off other salmon as Loch Duart’s, which is sold to many of the world’s top restaurants and wholesalers. ‘We have invested heavily in this technology and Oritain will provide Loch Duart with an independent ‘food fingerprinting’ service to help protect our premium brand and continue to build consumer confidence in our salmon,’said Bing. ‘Oritain gives us the ability to take a sample of fresh salmon in any kitchen in the world and test it to see if it really is Loch Duart salmon.’
CEO Alban Denton said potential markets for the future could include India, where there is currently a market for mainly frozen salmon. ‘People are predicting thatby 2030 India will be the most populous country in the world. We don’t yet sell a single salmon there, so that does seem like a market opportunity over the next couple of years.
‘We suffer from this unique problem that we haven’t got enough fish yet to be able to do it. We’ve got lots of customers who need looking after.’