Loch Fyne cook school plan to net oyster tourists

Now amateur chefs are to be given the chance to learn the art of cooking Loch Fyne Oysters' produce – when the firm creates a cook school at its Cairndow headquarters.

The launch of the school is part of a drive to attract "oyster tourists" to the shores of Scotland's biggest sea loch.

Keen would-be chefs will learn how to prepare seafood in the company's picturesque Argyll premises while they will stay at a boutique hotel to be built on the site.

Visitors will also be able to take a boat tour of the company's oyster and mussel farms across the loch and spend time in the smokehouse, where Loch Fyne prepares its smoked salmon and mussels products.

"There aren't many places which currently offer specifically fish or seafood cookery lessons," explained Bruce Davidson, managing director of Loch Fyne Oysters. "People tend to be a bit scared of cooking fish. There's a strong demand for some education on how to cook and prepare it."

Davidson is currently on the lookout for a celebrity chef to lend his or her name – and expertise – to the cook school.

Tom Kitchin, who owns the Michelin-starred Kitchin restaurant in Leith, welcomed the proposed school, saying: "I am sure it would be fantastic. It is a lovely part of the world and they have a fantastic natural larder up there. If they play to their strengths then I'm certain it will be a great success."

Alan Burns, chairman of Scotland Food and Drink, added: "The Loch Fyne Oyster bar is one of the finest restaurants in Scotland and they are renowned around the world for delicious Scottish seafood. This planned expansion is fantastic news for the Scottish food and drink industry."

The company's headquarters stand on the country estate of the Noble family – the seat of the company's founder, Johnny Noble.

Noble set up the oyster farm in the 1970s as a way to generate money to support the family home, but died suddenly in 2003. The business was subsequently sold to a trust representing the company's staff and has remained employee-owned ever since.

Davidson, who hopes the school could be up and running within three years, also unveiled plans to begin selling Loch Fyne salmon to the US market – in a bid to almost triple export sales to around 5 million by 2015.

"We want to get into the US and Japan by this time next year," said Davidson. "Russia would also be a market we would like to move into, ultimately, although that may not be for some time."

The company previously sold its products in the States in 2002, but pulled out after food regulations made it too costly to export products into the country.

Sales in the US previously passed the 1m mark – and Davidson is confident that a second foray into the market could be even more lucrative.

"It would be a great market for our product," he said. "Scottish products are very popular with Americans."

The firm, which harvests 140 tonnes of mussels a year and 250,000 oysters, recently began supplying its products to supermarket chain Waitrose.