Shetland Smokehouse

[Kevin]

The Skeld Smokehouse has gone into liquidation, a huge blow to the local economy with 8 full time and 8 part time jobs being lost, I didn't catch much more of the details on the radio but heard the rumour last night.

 

Its also common knowledge that the Sand fish factory is relocating to Scalloway in the near future so what's the future for Skeld and the Wastside as a whole?

[JustMe]

Has Skeld, Sand, the westside or even the whole of rural Shetland got a future other than as a commuter belt for Lerwick and the Terminal?. My own thought is "yes it does" but only if people develop creative solutions to sustain a good level of economic activity within rural Shetland.

 

Earlier today I posted a message about Angora Goats on a very different forum....the goats were just used to make a point. Can use the same creature to make my point here. If, and I accept there is an if, the goats would do well enough in Shetland then there is a premium product from the wool, perhaps also something could be done with goats milk and at the end of its life even goat meat might find a premium market.

 

To expand on my theme tonights meal will include Shetland grown salad leaves and Yarg cheese from Cornwall (another place with a marginal economy) and with my afternoon tea I had Shetland bread spread with Shetland Lemon Curd.

[BigMouth]

I thought about Llama Farming. If they can survive in the Andes then surely they can survive here.

 

I would be interested in setting something up but I would want to change my name by deed poll so that I could have a business card that said:

 

Andy Palmer - LLama Farmer

 

[Njugle]

.....and with my afternoon tea I had Shetland bread spread with Shetland Lemon Curd.

 

Shetland Lemon Curd? From Shetland grown lemons? Even if not, where would one find some of that? That's a product i would be all too happy to support.

 

The closure of the Smokehouse is indeed a great shame. I only hope that there is some scope in the liquidation for perhaps a smaller interest to be set-up to perhaps produce a higher value product. Perhaps if "Handmade Fish Co" took a leap into more commercial production.

 

According to the report on the news the demise was due to the high current price of salmon. A new business could perhaps gain grants to produce a higher value product using organic produce for a niche market rather than general retail.

 

I'm truly vexed to see it go.

[Judge]

As a caterer, i question where i could source quality salmon products in Shetland like the ones produced by the Smokehouse. A terrible blow for the Shetland economy and its staff.

[JustMe]

Njugle wrote

 

Shetland Lemon Curd? Surprised From Shetland grown lemons? Even if not, where would one find some of that? That's a product i would be all too happy to support. Smile

 

Lemon Curd along with the bread,salad leaves and Cornish cheese came from Deli Direct's mobile shop. For more details see their advert on the Latest news page of the Shetland news website.

[Fifi]

.....and with my afternoon tea I had Shetland bread spread with Shetland Lemon Curd.

 

Shetland Lemon Curd? From Shetland grown lemons? Even if not, where would one find some of that? That's a product i would be all too happy to support.

I used to make it from our chookie's eggs when there was a glut of eggs in the summer and the local shop didn't need any. Yum.

[shetlander]

A shame indeed about the Shetland Smokehouse – it seemed to be a leader in Shetland’s growing food industry and will be a big miss. When I stayed in Glasgow, I used to take a stash of their stuff back with me after being at home on holiday. Their peppered mackerel and hot smoked salmon in particular were excellent.

 

As to the future (and this probably applies to most parts of rural Shetland and not just the Westside) it’s a difficult one. Economics and transportation are always going to be the main drivers in determining where big commodity producing (which also tend to be big job creating) businesses decide to locate or are going to be more viable – and in a Shetland context that more than likely favours Lerwick and the surrounding area. If financially self-sustaining new businesses of any kind can be encouraged to set-up in remoter areas then great. But given past criticisms about how much money has been thrown at struggling industries, I’m just not sure how far the likes of the Council or Shetland Enterprise can be expected to go in the way of financial assistance when that’s necessary - I suppose an appropriate balance has to be struck.

 

Employment is only part of the story though – personally, I think social factors and the lifestyle attractions of Lerwick or towns and cities south have as much to do with why many young folk decide to leave rural areas in Shetland than just work or college/university education. How you solve that one, I don’t know.

[Styles]

Pity the smoke house closed, i liked their salmon, can only get the sommerfield own brand stuff now which is not as good. My mam said that the haddock etc had gone down hill though once the catch took over for some reason.

[Njugle]

The smoked mackerel issue - if they are closing because the price of salmon is too high, can't they just downsize and continue with the mackerel.....as indeed it's Shetland Catch that owns the Smokehouse.

 

(you can tell i'm desperately clutching at straws here I eat a lot of smokehouse stuff)

 

Perhaps they will start producing that in Lerwick. After all, one thing that has been stated many times over the years is the requirement for more added value seafood products from Sheland, rather than sending "raw materials" south or abroad.

[Styles]

Good point Njugle, I like that mackrel as well and would it not make sense to the Catch?

[Hambone]

If you want mackeral etc mind that McNabs make their own stuff as well and the fishcakes are excellant.

[hjt]

I thought about Llama Farming. If they can survive in the Andes then surely they can survive here.

 

Llama farming has, I think, been investigated - the problem is that llamas are VERY expensive to buy.

[BigMouth]

I thought about Llama Farming. If they can survive in the Andes then surely they can survive here.

 

Llama farming has, I think, been investigated - the problem is that llamas are VERY expensive to buy.

 

So it's not possible to grow them from seed then?

[Heimdal]

If you want mackeral etc mind that McNabs make their own stuff as well and the fishcakes are excellant.