12 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT High Country Salmon New shop, palate pleasers on show T T Russell Fredric High Country Salmon’s Richard and Margaret Logan hold some chinook salmon. Silver success and recognition of environmentally responsible practices is not all High Country Salmon has achieved over the past year. A brand new fish shop and two new smoked-and-cured palate tempters are pointing to High Country Salmon’s sustainable growth and confidence in preparation for the upcoming post-pandemic tourist season. With tourist numbers gradually increasing, business operations manager Tracey Gunn says it is exciting to see long-held plans to upgrade and expand the retail side of the business coming to fruition. “We have a beautiful looking shop that will allow us to sell all of our current salmon products, plus we’re going to have a serve-over so, some of our products on ice, we’ll be able to make up kebabs and other options.” The chinook salmon product range is also being expanded to offer a variety of sea food. “In the past month we have seen an increase in foot traffic on-site which is good to see and it will only increase once the borders open at the end of July.” One of High Country Salmon’s smoked-andcured creations, Beetroot Cold Smoked Salmon, achieved silver at the 2022 Outstanding NZ Food Producer awards. The smoked-and-cured range is produced in collaboration with The Wee Smokehouse near Geraldine. One of the two new offerings is honey and thyme hot smoked salmon which was created following a customer request for a refined sugar free option, Tracey says. “We’ve got a local honey company, Swarming Sons, and we use their honey; that’s used in the brine and the glaze on top of the salmon and then it’s smoked with oak wood. The other new palate- pleaser is truffle cold smoked salmon which is sprinkled with truffle zest - a combination of black summer truffle, carob powder and salt. “It’s got a really lovely truffle flavour so if you’re a truffle fan it’s next-level amazing.” These and the other variations available highlight the versatility of salmon which goes way beyond what many might traditionally consider, Tracey says. “Salmon is suited to sweet, salty salty, spicy and earthy, as we’ve discovered. It does lend itself to quite a few flavour profiles.” High Country Salmon also sells fresh salmon in a variety of cuts and fillets including sashimi and steak fillets, hampers, gift packs and salmon caviar either online or for pick-up, while sushi and sashimi lunchtime deliveries into Twizel are also offered. While the addition of the new retail area is a big step, there are more plans in the pipeline. “It’s the first step of many, we’ve got heaps more improvement plans to implement over the next few years.” High Country Salmon won the Sustainability and Environmental Award at last year’s South Canterbury ARA Business Excellence Awards. Forest & Bird’s “Best Fish Guide” has endorsed freshwater salmon farming in the Mackenzie District hydro canals specifically as the most sustainable form of salmon farming and is the only farmed fin-fish regarded as a “Green light – Good Choice”. The company also operates under Aquaculture New Zealand A+ guidelines. Independent endorsements like these are not only important to the company, but crucially creates trust and confidence with consumers, Tracey says. Mid-Canterbury. 437 Baxters Road, RD5, Ashburton 021 135 4099 • theweesmokehouse@gmail.com • theweesmokehouse.nz Specialising in Smoked Salmon Traditional Smoked Goods Proud to support High Country Salmon Meet Sidekick. A xed-fee accounting and advisory service like you’ve never seen before. 0800 SK TIMARU | sidekickca.co.nz Be more successful.
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