Sun sets on Scottish Salmon Company name as Bakkafrost extends brand

The company said the change will ensure that the Bakkafrost Group operates as “One Company”, with two regions of production.

Today’s announcement follows the opening of Bakkafrost’s new Scotland headquarters in Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh, last week.

Value of provenance

Bakkafrost chief executive Regin Jacobsen said: “When we acquired The Scottish Salmon Company, we saw the exceptional value of Scottish provenance and an opportunity to create the leading and most sustainable salmon producer in Scotland.

“The next step in realising this potential is the renaming of our Scottish operations to Bakkafrost Scotland. This represents an important milestone in our ‘One Company’ strategic focus, as we continue to build on our strengths and best practices across the Group to fully benefit from the collective knowledge and competencies from our passionate and talented employees.

“The renaming also signals that we are fully committed to Scotland and look forward to realising our investment plan that will create jobs and value in our local communities. Scotland is an integral part of our future plans for business growth.”

Bigger smolts

Bakkafrost is investing around £500 million in Scotland over a five-year period, primarily to build three new hatcheries that will produce around 18 million smolts a year with an average weight of 500g. Large smolts are the central plank of the company’s farming policy in the Faroes and Scotland.

The money is also being used to improve farm infrastructure in Scotland and provide more vessels for treatments against lice and amoebic gill disease.

Full control

Ian Laister, managing director for Bakkafrost Scotland, said: “The renaming of our Scotland operations to Bakkafrost Scotland and finalising our larger smolt production strategy, represents our firm step into the future as part of the Bakkafrost family.

“Bakkafrost is the most vertically integrated salmon farming business in the world, allowing the Scottish operation full control and responsibility over all aspects of our supply chain and production.

“Bakkafrost Scotland cements our position on the global stage, while retaining our proud Scottish provenance. This is fundamental to our people, and the communities in which they live and work, and to our customers, who receive only the finest salmon from Scotland. This combined with our larger smolt strategy drives our journey to become Scotland’s leading and most sustainable producer of the finest quality salmon.”

Bakkafrost Scotland expects to harvest 35,000 gutted weight tonnes of Atlantic salmon this year, with volumes increasing in coming years as large smolts become available. Bigger smolts spend a shorter time in marine pens, making them less vulnerable to lice and other hazards and enabling better utilisation of the sites.