Loch Duart has teamed up with Oritain - experts in scientifically proving the origin of food products - to prevent unscrupulous suppliers from passing off other salmon as Loch Duart’s.
Oritain’s testing measures trace elements that occur naturally at each farm and which are absorbed by the salmon raised there. Further analysis creates a unique fingerprint that can verify the origin of the fish.
Starting in 2018, Oritain is providing Loch Duart with this independent food fingerprinting service to help protect its brand. Consequently, the Scottish producer will be able to audit at any stage in the supply chain and determine exactly from where the salmon being tested originates. It will be first fish farmer in the Northern Hemisphere to use this technology.
“Loch Duart [is] really proud of our extraordinary tasting salmon which is asked for by name worldwide. If another salmon is passed off as ours, consumers are being both exploited and misled. Our distributors have told us that it happens, now we’re partnering with Oritain to police the supply chain," Loch Duart Managing Director Alban Denton said. "We’re determined to do everything we can to protect our world renowned brand and ensure that when people ask for Loch Duart salmon they can be completely certain this is what they are getting."
It is estimated that food fraud affects at least 10 percent of the global food supply chain at a cost to the industry in excess of USD 50 billion (EUR 41.7 billion) per year.
“Consumers must get what they order and what they are paying for," Denton said. "Oritain’s forensic approach to scientifically fingerprinting the origin of our fish means that we can verify the origin of our fresh salmon – wherever the consumers are in the world.”
