RR Spink & Sons, one of the oldest names in Scottish food and drink, has announced plans to celebrate its 300th year of trading with a range of super-premium anniversary products.
The company, founded by an Arbroath family with a "modest fishing boat" in 1715, has since 2008 been one of four brands operated by Dawnfresh, the £41 million-turnover Uddingston fish farmers and processors owned by businessman Alastair Salvesen.
RR Spink prides itself in combining traditional hand-preparation of smoked trout and salmon with innovative new smoking methods and flavourings. Salvesen, who has invested heavily in the group he bought out from the Christian Salvesen group in 1983, has previously designated the brand as the spearhead of Dawnfresh's overseas sales drive.
A spokesman described the anniversary as "an opportunity to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the current and past generations, and a chance to encourage more people to discover and enjoy smoked trout."
Spink, which carries a royal warrant, has teamed up with Michelin-Starred chef and seafood restaurateur - Mark Sargeant, formerly head chef at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at Claridge's in London, to create a series of special recipes. The firm will also be releasing a limited edition of 300 new trout products, each retailing at £300, created by resident chef Scott Fraser the anniversary product "drawing inspiration from the 300-mile journey between Loch Etive - where the trout is raised - to our ancestral home here in Arbroath".
Spink,the premium brand of the 700-employee Dawnfresh group (also including Loch Etive, Silver Tide and Kintyre), employs 110 people in Abroath.
Dawnfresh does not break down financial details by brand, but the group's accounts published in January this year showed it increasing turnover from £40.2 million to £41.6m in the 12 months to March 30, 2014, though increasing costs saw a pre-tax loss of almost £5.9m, compared to £5.2m in the previous year.
James Withers, chief executive of public-private industry group Scotland Food and Drink said: "RR Spink encapsulates many of the qualities that are driving growth of the whole food and drink sector in Scotland. It a fantastic brand, built on heritage and provenance. Using world, class sustainable fish they appeal to shoppers who want a strong and authentic story behind the products they're buying - and there are few business in Scotland in any sector that have been successful doing that over three centuries.
"Whilst heritage is important, they have done what successful food business have to do which is embrace innovation. Whether it is collaborating with whisky brands or creating new spice mixes, they have developed new products and flavours to tap in to changing trends and market opportunities."
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