SFAD member business Frankie’s Fish & Chips is hiring the Taste of Shetland trailer between 10am and 5pm on festival day and will be serving an array of seafood treats to festival goers and passers-by. Trailer visitors will be treated to seeing the new trailer branding for the first time. The trailer ‘wrap’ includes a striking servery side image entitled ‘Hey Ewe’ of a Shetland sheep pictured against a seascape with Foula on the horizon. This winning image was selected from 77 entries to the summer Taste of Shetland trailer photography competition. The winning photographer is Gordon Siegel who receives a £200 cash prize and trailer credit for his successful submission.
The Taste of Shetland trailer is equipped for preparing, cooking and sharing local produce and will be available for hire by SFAD members and community groups from 2022. It can be used as an event, demonstration, retail, educational and pop-up catering facility and is intended to assist with COVID-19 recovery by building awareness of Shetland food and drink in the isles and beyond.
The Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, Scottish Sea Farms and Cooke Aquaculture Scotland are the latest sponsors to lend their generous support to trailer operations. In a deal recently struck with these three backers, funding has been secured for tailer cold chain storage, the staging of non-commercial trailer events, and appointment of a trailer manager for the next two years.
SFAD manager, Claire White, said: “We are extremely grateful to these aquaculture sponsors for taking our trailer ambitions to the next level.
“This is our first physical ‘shop window’ for the work we do, and we want to use the trailer as effectively as possible in promoting Shetland’s incredible local businesses and food and drink sector.”
Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation chief executive, Tavish Scott, said: “We are delighted to support this fantastic initiative to help promote Shetland’s food and drink sector and raise awareness of the salmon sector.
“Our industry relies on the people of Shetland with 25% of Scotland’s production volumes being harvested there, so it’s fantastic to be able to support this food trailer to educate, demonstrate and, most importantly, serve the great quality salmon found around the islands.”
David Brown, Shetland Regional Manager for Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, said: “The cold, fast-moving waters off Shetland make it one of the very best places to raise salmon that is exported and enjoyed all over the world.
“Aquaculture makes the biggest economic contribution to Shetland, worth more than £243 million every year, and is one of the largest employers in these islands.
“Alongside salmon, Shetland has a deserved international reputation for some of the finest craft food and drink. Many of the producers are family-owned, like we are, so we’re delighted to support everybody who is helping to put Shetland on the map.”
Other financial backers of the trailer include the Coastal Communities Fund, Shetland Fish Producers’ Organisation, Shetland Livestock Marketing Group, Blydoit Fish, DH Marine, Scalloway Meat Company, Shetland Aerogenerators, Ness Engineering, EG Farming, Shetland Young Farmers and the Regional Food Fund.
SFAD Chair, Marian Armitage, said: “This is a true partnership project which we hope will deliver benefits to communities the length of breadth of Shetland and beyond.
“We are deeply grateful to every sponsor business and organisation that has enabled us to bring the Taste of Shetland trailer vision to life.”
