Growing appetite for large loch trout
Dawnfresh has reported a 29% y-o-y increase in turnover in its farming operations in the year ending 27th March 2016.
The UK’s largest trout producer recorded a turnover of £17.2 million, up from £13.3 million in the previous year – a figure which, the company report states, reflects “our increased output of large loch trout to meet the growing demand from our customers, both within the UK and internationally”.
“Changing UK consumer demands resulted in us growing and harvesting less volume year on year of our smaller portion sized trout. However, this remains an important part of our farming operation and consumer offering,” the report continued.
Operating losses fell by 25% to £0.72 million due to “the returns of previous investment in our farming operations less the additional resources deployed to meet an increased farm estate”. The report adds that future investments will be targeted at “improving farming efficiency and profitability”.
The company has previously expressed its ambition to increase production on the loch from around 3000 to 5000 tonnes per year. And, in a bid to ramp up production, it invested £2.5 million in its first feed barge on Loch Etive in 2015, while in October 2016 it was granted permission to increase the diameter of its cages at the site Etive 3 from 22m to 25m.
