Five star success for family fish firm in Great Taste Awards

A Grimsby family seafood processor is celebrating strong results for its branded range in this year’s Great Taste Awards.

Two of JCS Fish’s BigFish brand Traditional Smoked products were each awarded Two Star status in The Guild of Fine Food’s prized benchmarking, regarded as the Oscars of British cuisine.

Traditional Oak Smoked Salmon and Traditional Oak Smoked Sea Trout were each rewarded with two stars, with BigFish Lemon & Pepper Breaded Salmon Bites receiving one star.

It builds on a single star award last year for the salmon dish.

Andrew Coulbeck, founder and managing director of the Murray Street firm which prides itself on operational excellence , said: “We are over the moon to get such a fantastic endorsement from the Guild of Fine Food. It is testament to the hard work of our small team here in Grimsby plus the benefit of our long family experience and heritage in fish smoking.”

All of these products are listed by Ocado and also sold direct from the BigFish website. They are also stocked at many independent retailers around the UK.

Feedback from the judges included: “The fish is whole and chunky, the lemon crumb seasoning is even, crisp and golden - very moreish,” “wonderful texture, we could eat a lot of this” “a skilled hand at work” and “the smoke aroma is very well balanced, smooth and rounded... sensational.”

All three products are listed by Ocado, stocked by many independent retailers nationwide and also sold direct from the BigFish website.

JCS Fish' BigFish Brand Traditionally Cured Oak Smoked Salmon, which has had a packaging makeover for 2019. (Grimsby Telegraph)

It continues a strong run for smoked products in Grimsby. Last year Alfred Enderby emerged as the only producer in the whole of the Humber area to gain the coveted maximum three stars for its premium salmon dish.

Pipers Crisps, now part of PepsiCo following the huge buy-out, bagged three single stars for Atlas Mountains Wild Thyme & Rosemary, English Mint Crispeas and Matar Paneer Crispeas.

Humberston chocolatier Duffy’s also wrapped up a single star for its Nicaragua Juno 70 per cent, as did Osgodby cheesemaker Cote Hill for its Lindum rind.

Full listings: The Great Taste Awards