November 17th, 2006, 05:43
British seafood shipped to Thailand - and back - just to have the shells removed
16.11.06
Evening Standard
Long way around: Scampi will be shipped to Thailand and back just to have the shells removed
Instead of transporting K-caught langoustines the relatively short distance from sea to factory to distributor, Britain's leading seafood supplier will send them on a 13,000-mile round trip to Thailand - in the interests of cost-cutting.
At the moment, langoustines are caught off the west coast of Scotland and in the Irish Sea. The tails, used for scampi, are frozen for three weeks at the Young's factory in Annan, Dumfriesshire, and then put through a machine which blasts off the shells with water.
Finally, they are put into cold storage ready for packing and distributing.
However, Young's has decided to reintroduce hand-shelling, which has not been the practice since the Eighties. It is said to give the scampi a better flavour, because it does not use water.
And, according to the company, it is cheaper to run the operation abroad.
So from February, Young's will ship 600 tons of langoustines a year to Thailand and Thai workers will shell the langoustines by hand at a base owned by Young's sister company Findus.
The shellfish will then be repackaged and shipped back to the factory where they began their journey. Eventually, they will be breaded and sold across the UK.
But yesterday the logic of the scheme was questioned by critics - about 120 jobs will be lost in Scotland, where deshelling currently takes place.
Meanwhile, the increased travel could have damaging environmental consequences, according to green campaigners.
Ben Reynolds, of the sustainable food campaign Sustain, said: 'It is ridiculous that they are doing this.
'Shipping the product may be more environmentally-friendly than flying it, but it is completely unnecessary for it to be sent to Thailand at all.
'Consumers will be shocked to know their scampi has travelled 13,000 miles.'
Young's director of scampi, Mike Mitchell, said 'We are very disappointed we have to take this step and it is a reversal of the policy to produce food locally.
'But this will lead to more growth in the langoustine market in the UK.
'The facility in Thailand has a long history in seafood processing and can undertake hand deshelling for us to a very high standard. We are satisfied it provides proper pay and working conditions.'
The carrier ships comply with European guidelines on environmental impact and are the most eco-friendly way of transporting the shellfish, he added.
Young's employs nearly 5,000 at sites in the North of England and Scotland. Union members have three months to object to the plan.
Young's is credited with inventing breaded scampi in 1946 for the Ritz Hotel. Its Scottish Island Scampi is sold in major supermarkets.
The company is the UK's biggest seafood supplier, with about 35 per cent of the market.
It sells the equivalent of five 280gram bags of scampi a minute. A bag costs about ┬г3.70.
t. yaqoob@dailymail.co.uk THE SCOTTISH WAY TO SHELL LANGOUSTINES ... 1. The langoustines are frozen within an hour of leaving the sea. 2. After three weeks they are shelled by a machine. As water is used in the process, the flavour is said to be impaired.
3. The tails are then breaded and bagged.
... AND THAI STYLE 1 The shellfish will be quick-frozen after being caught.
2 After a few days they will be packed into refrigerated containers on ships, maintained at -26C for the 21-day journey to Bangkok.
3 There they will be dunked in 15C water to make them warm enough to be shelled by hand but not hot enough for them to go off. 4 Shellers will use a handwash to ensure the fish is protected from germs. 20 tons are shelled in five days before the cargo is refrozen and packed back on a ship for the 13,000-mile round trip to the UK. 5 Back in Scotland, 21 days later, it is breaded and bagged as before.
'Completely unnecessary'
16.11.06
Evening Standard
Long way around: Scampi will be shipped to Thailand and back just to have the shells removed
Instead of transporting K-caught langoustines the relatively short distance from sea to factory to distributor, Britain's leading seafood supplier will send them on a 13,000-mile round trip to Thailand - in the interests of cost-cutting.
At the moment, langoustines are caught off the west coast of Scotland and in the Irish Sea. The tails, used for scampi, are frozen for three weeks at the Young's factory in Annan, Dumfriesshire, and then put through a machine which blasts off the shells with water.
Finally, they are put into cold storage ready for packing and distributing.
However, Young's has decided to reintroduce hand-shelling, which has not been the practice since the Eighties. It is said to give the scampi a better flavour, because it does not use water.
And, according to the company, it is cheaper to run the operation abroad.
So from February, Young's will ship 600 tons of langoustines a year to Thailand and Thai workers will shell the langoustines by hand at a base owned by Young's sister company Findus.
The shellfish will then be repackaged and shipped back to the factory where they began their journey. Eventually, they will be breaded and sold across the UK.
But yesterday the logic of the scheme was questioned by critics - about 120 jobs will be lost in Scotland, where deshelling currently takes place.
Meanwhile, the increased travel could have damaging environmental consequences, according to green campaigners.
Ben Reynolds, of the sustainable food campaign Sustain, said: 'It is ridiculous that they are doing this.
'Shipping the product may be more environmentally-friendly than flying it, but it is completely unnecessary for it to be sent to Thailand at all.
'Consumers will be shocked to know their scampi has travelled 13,000 miles.'
Young's director of scampi, Mike Mitchell, said 'We are very disappointed we have to take this step and it is a reversal of the policy to produce food locally.
'But this will lead to more growth in the langoustine market in the UK.
'The facility in Thailand has a long history in seafood processing and can undertake hand deshelling for us to a very high standard. We are satisfied it provides proper pay and working conditions.'
The carrier ships comply with European guidelines on environmental impact and are the most eco-friendly way of transporting the shellfish, he added.
Young's employs nearly 5,000 at sites in the North of England and Scotland. Union members have three months to object to the plan.
Young's is credited with inventing breaded scampi in 1946 for the Ritz Hotel. Its Scottish Island Scampi is sold in major supermarkets.
The company is the UK's biggest seafood supplier, with about 35 per cent of the market.
It sells the equivalent of five 280gram bags of scampi a minute. A bag costs about ┬г3.70.
t. yaqoob@dailymail.co.uk THE SCOTTISH WAY TO SHELL LANGOUSTINES ... 1. The langoustines are frozen within an hour of leaving the sea. 2. After three weeks they are shelled by a machine. As water is used in the process, the flavour is said to be impaired.
3. The tails are then breaded and bagged.
... AND THAI STYLE 1 The shellfish will be quick-frozen after being caught.
2 After a few days they will be packed into refrigerated containers on ships, maintained at -26C for the 21-day journey to Bangkok.
3 There they will be dunked in 15C water to make them warm enough to be shelled by hand but not hot enough for them to go off. 4 Shellers will use a handwash to ensure the fish is protected from germs. 20 tons are shelled in five days before the cargo is refrozen and packed back on a ship for the 13,000-mile round trip to the UK. 5 Back in Scotland, 21 days later, it is breaded and bagged as before.
'Completely unnecessary'