Behind the Scenes with President’s Choice and a Discovery of Scotland
Disclaimer: This post was done in collaboration with President’s Choice. All opinions expressed are my own. All information, offerings, and prices are accurate as of time of posting. Please refer t0 President’s Choice for most up to date information.
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As the in-house brand of Loblaws, one of Canada’s biggest and most well known grocery chains, Canadians everywhere have had a President’s Choice product in their home at some point. As a Canadian one of the things I’m most proud of is the fact that Canada is one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world. People from all over the world (my parents included) have immigrated from other countries and have decided to call Canada their home. Luckily because of this, we are blessed with one of the most diverse food cultures as everyone brings with them the tastes and flavours of their countries to Canada. So what does this have to do with President’s Choice exactly? Well one of the things that I’ve always respected about the brand is their ability to meet the needs of Canadians which is reflected in their diverse lineup of products. Walk down the aisles of any Loblaws and you wiell see flavours from all over the world. Everything from Asian sauces, European style breads, and yes Scottish cookies and fish.
When President’s Choice (here on out affectionately referred to as PC) invited me to go to Scotland to see where their source their Scottish shortbread and haddock from I was quite honestly pretty surprised. While I knew they carried many products form around the world I had always assumed that their products were probably manufactured somewhere all in the same place. Sure they sold Scottish cookies but obviously they weren’t real Scottish cookies right? I mean they probably just followed a Scottish recipe in their factory somewhere. Well I was wrong. Dead wrong. And now my curiosity was at it’s highest as I discovered that they directly sourced their short bread cookies and haddock directly from Scotland. Plus the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see exactly where and how their products are sourced and produced is pretty rare.
From Sea to Table – President’s Choice Scottish Haddock and Cod Cakes
Earlier in the week we started out or trip by taking a boat ride on a fishing boat in Arbroath Harbour. The water was pretty rough the day we went out it, and even though we didn’t catch any fish that day (we will leave that to the pros) it was still an incredible experience to see how it all starts. I definitely had a new found appreciation to the hardworking fishermen who wake up way earlier than most of us can even fathom in order to catch the freshest and best that the waters have to offer.
We then took a trip to Peterhead Fish Market, the largest white fish port in all of the United Kingdom. It is here where President’s Choice purchases their Scottish haddock directly from the fishermen daily. All the fish sold here is wild, and sustainably caught. It is because of this that PC Scottish Haddock bears the Marine Stewardship Council certification for sustainably caught seafood.
Everyday the fishermen wake up early to catch the fish and then bring their hauls to Peterhead Fish Market to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The auctions start at 7am each day so you can only imagine how early they must wake up everyday in order to catch the fish and be ready for sale time.
Once PC has purchased the haddock at Peterhead Fish Market the fish is sent to a local facility to be processed and packaged. We make the trip over and it takes us less than five minutes to get there from the market.
Before we take a tour of fish being made we get our own opportunity to make the PC Scottish haddock using the exact same ingredients that are used in the process. Three simple trays with flour, egg wash, and bread crumbs are laid out and we get to dip the vary same fish we saw earlier that morning at the market in each of the trays. The fish are then deep fried and they were super crispy and super delicious.
This is essentially the same process that is used when PC makes and packages their own Scottish Haddock, but like the shortbread cookies it happens on a much larger scale. The same goes for their lemon dill filled cod cakes. Everything is then frozen, packaged, and ready to be prepared for your dinner table at home.
President’s Choice Scottish Cookies – Authentically Scottish for Over One Hundred Years!
The tour that I was most excited about was the Shortbread cookie tour. I mean, does it get any more Scottish than the shortbread cookie? Plus with it’s buttery goodness it most certainly is my favourite cookie of all time.
We went straight to the town where the cookies are sourced, which is by a Scottish family-owned company who has been making the buttery treat for over 100 years. The same recipe has been used the entire time and only contains 4 ingredients – sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Nothing fake or artificial. Only all-natural and tasty goodness.
All four ingredients are mixed and then hand-rolled in sugar before being shaped and baked off. Just like how you or I might make cookies at home, except on a much grander scale. To see the process is to see how pure and simple it really is.
The cookies are packaged, and then ready for the best part…eating!
In short, I’m super grateful to President’s Choice for taking me behind the scenes. More often or not there is a stigma against food that comes in a package, that it is not as fresh or that maybe the ingredients are not as good. I myself am guilty of this, but after seeing first hand how they source their products I feel much more confident about purchasing these items. For real! It was nice to see that they went straight to the source and that the food was prepared exactly how I would make a similar item myself at home. And real Scottish eats, minus the expensive flight costs? Sign me up please.
