Diversification the key for Amity Fish Company success. The Covid pandemic was a testing time for most seafood businesses – and no more so than the Amity Fish Company in Peterhead – when their order book from the restaurant and hospitality trade suddenly dried-up.
The outlook appeared bleak, but then something remarkable happened, and the company soon became inundated with orders from individual consumers, looking to source quality seafood delivered straight to their homes. It was a turning point and an astonishing twist in fortune that has seen the award-winning Amity Fish Company quadruple its turnover in the last few years to over a million pounds per annum.
Although intended to be a temporary move until the hospitality sector reopened, demand for home delivery grew and Amity went on to invest in a new custom-built website and e-commerce platform that is versatile and easy-to-use for customers.
The company was founded by well-known Peterhead skipper Jimmy Buchan as an add-on to his fishing boat Amity II that was featured in the BBC’s Trawlermen series from 2006 to 2010. The seeds of Amity Fish Company were first sown when Jimmy began visiting trade shows where he saw large companies using provenance to market seafood caught by their fleets. He took the model and scaled it down, first selling his langoustine direct to local Aberdeenshire hotels where chefs loved his produce, and from there the business slowly grew.
However, Jimmy soon realised it was not possible to properly develop the business when he was still at sea, so he sold the Amity II in 2019 to focus on his new shore-based processing career. While e-commerce remains an important element of the business following the pandemic, there has been an excellent recovery in the wholesale and retail sides, and the company is also now making a big push into the export market.
Jimmy told Fish Focus:
“One of our most successful products is our own-brand frozen breaded scampi. I developed a recipe that I liked and which we perfected. From this, we built a strong relationship with fish and chip shops and wholesalers that provided an excellent foundation for business growth.
“Provenance and quality are both extremely important, and it is true to say that following the Trawlermen TV series I had become a ‘well kent’ face, which provided a good opening for developing and promoting the Amity brand.”
He continues:
“The onset of Covid was a shock that could have spelt the death-knell for our business, but incredibly we suddenly became very busy with orders, supplying high quality seafood direct to homes. We were able to adapt quickly to the new trading environment by being flexible and dynamic in our approach, which has benefited Amity tremendously.”
This has resulted in Amity increasing its workforce from four to the current eight employees, and where Jimmy is ably helped-out by daughters Julie Coutts and Jenna Urquhart as part of the management team.
Jimmy says:
“The business now is a good mix of e-commerce home sales, the retail and wholesale markets, and more recently export. This broad spread of activity is a strength as it means not all our eggs are in the one basket, which ensures stability moving forward.”
Recently, Amity Fish Company moved into larger office and processing premises by the quayside in Peterhead where there is also a new shop, Amity Fish Larder, which has adopted a delicatessen style approach to selling a range of high quality fresh and frozen seafood, and complementary food items such as sauces and dressings. The fish shop offers an extensive range of seafood, from popular favourites such as fresh haddock, to luxury produce such as lobster and langoustines. On the day Fish Focus visited, items for sale included Gravad Lax, frozen breaded monkfish medallions, frozen lemon sole goujons, and of course, Amity’s famous own-brand frozen breaded scampi.
Looking to the future, exports are seen as a focus that will be the catalyst for further expansion. Exporting to the EU following Brexit is a quagmire of a red tape for small seafood processors, so Amity is instead looking at markets further afield, including in Singapore and the Middle East where a demand has been identified for premium Scottish shellfish, including scallops and live lobsters.
“We see great potential for exports because Scotland is renowned for having the best quality seafood in the world,” says Jimmy. “Unfortunately, the EU market is too difficult for us, and until Europe shows it wants to do business with the UK with regards to seafood, it is a market we will probably avoid for now, focusing our attention further afield.”
The future is looking bright for Amity Fish Company, and having won several business development awards in recent years, this is a seafood company that is clearly going places.