An emphasis on excellence and quality have propelled Pinneys of Scotland from a mail-order company to Royal Warrant-holders, as TM finds out.
Pinneys of Scotland, based in Annan, Dumfrieshire, was established in 1976 when it began producing smoked salmon for mail order. Now part of the Seafood Company, whose headquarters are based in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Pinneys holds a Royal Warrant to supply smoked salmon to Her Majesty the Queen.
With an annual turnover of around £50m, Pinneys caters for the UK and European retail markets. Not only a supplier of smoked salmon, it also sells natural wet fish and fish-based delicatessen products such as pâté and terrines, as well as ready meals, including for Marks and Spencer’s Cook! range – in the past up to 90% of Pinneys’ output has landed on Marks and Spencer’s shelves. That Pinneys supplies to a major retailer so renowned for quality, where competition to do so is fierce, is surely a further testament to the calibre of its range of products.
Quality is clearly a key factor in Pinneys’ success and as such, its products are manufactured at state-of-the-art facilities under the strictest quality criteria; in addition, the company only uses farmed Scottish salmon from approved Scottish fish farms. The Seafood Company itself operates according to its independently-verified sustainable seafood approach ‘Fish for Life’, which strives to make an active contribution towards long-term seafood sustainability.
In March this year, Pinneys was sold to The Seafood Company by European convenience foods group Uniq. Pinneys had been part of Uniq since 1999. The move will undoubtedly further firm up Pinneys’ already strong foothold in the marketplace.
