Two seafood companies were among the 20 winners of the 2011 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards.
St. James Smokehouse and Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK were both honored at the 15th annual awards banquet at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Dunblane, Scotland, last Thursday.
St. James Smokehouse won “business of the year” and “international business of the year.” The Annan-based smoked salmon producer was described by the judges as an excellent example of a small company taking its product to the world with fantastic growth ambitions for the next two years.
St. James Smokehouse also won best new retail seafood product for its St. James Scotch Reserve Smoked Salmon infused with Hendricks Scottish Gin and Tonic at the International Boston Seafood Show’s Seafood Excellence Awards in March.
For the second year, Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK, Shetland’s largest salmon company, won in the fish and seafood category for its gourmet WildWaters range.
Entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and journalists.
At the event, Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s secretary of rural affairs and environment, also announced a EUR 2.6 million Scottish Funding Council package to establish a Scotland-wide food and drink innovation network with 17 Scottish universities.
“It’s always an easy task to extol the virtues of our superb food and drink industry and tonight’s winner make that job even easier,” said Ray Jones, Scotland Food and Drink chairman. “I’m delighted to see so many small Scottish companies walking away as winners, as we need to recognize the new kids on the block so Scotland can find its home among the top three producers of quality food and drink in the world.”
