About Us
Who Are We?
Formed in October 2023 and based in Orkney, Scotland, Orkney Crab are part of the PDK Group. PDK specialise in the export of live shellfish from their Head Quarters in Oban, Scotland.
Managing Director Paul Knight was delighted to acquire our long-standing local crab factory with decades of knowledge and experience in the industry.
What Do We Do?
We buy, process and sell brown crab predominantly sourced from Orkney with extra volume from managed areas when required. We also source a variety of other shellfish including velvet crab, lobster and whelks.
Where Can You Find Us?
Our customers supply various UK supermarkets and restaurants, and we are an accredited supplier to M&S and Tesco. We also currently export to Europe, particularly France and to Asia and are always looking towards new markets.
Our Location: The Orkney Islands
The Orkney Islands are a remote archipelago off the north east coast of Scotland where the waters of the Atlantic Ocean meet the North Sea. The strong currents create pristine, nutrient rich waters that support a diverse marine ecosystem.
Fishing has sustained the islanders for thousands of years. From the archaeological digs of the world-famous Skara Brae, evidence dates back to neolithic times that crab and lobster formed part of the inhabitants’ diets.
Commercial fishing for crab for markets beyond the islands began in the 1960s and to this day it continues to be an important part of the local economy.
Orkney attracts thousands of visitors and tourists each year. Aside from the incredible food and drink there are endless skies, plenty of stunning coastline, and many cultural events and festivals to be enjoyed.
Not a local? Please use our interactive map below to see where we are in the world.
Our Operations
There are over 100 registered and licensed shellfish fishing boats within Orkney. The majority of these boats are less than 10m in length and the crab are caught by baited pots, or ‘creels’, as they are known locally.
From various harbours around Orkney brown crab is transported by lorry to our processing factory based in Stromness.
On arrival the crab first goes into a chill, it is then humanely stunned before being steam cooked. The crab is sorted and some may be selected for whole crab and claws whilst others further processed into various meat composites. The majority of our crab is handpicked, leaving only the hard to get areas which are mechanically extracted. This means we have no meat wastage. Our products are 100% crab meat with no preservatives or additives.
The product is screened, and then vacuum packed for dispatch. To preserve its freshness the crab is blast frozen, packed, boxed ready for shipment and stored within our substantial Cold Store facility.
Our fleet of temperature controlled lorries and wider distribution network are able to deliver our products to customers worldwide.
Our factory employs over fifty employees with various roles including processing operatives, quality controllers, maintenance and warehouse staff through to administration and distribution personnel.
All our factory operatives receive an hourly pay rate above the Real Living Wage for Scotland.
From our live ponds facility based on Stromness pier we also buy and sell onwards live lobster, green and velvet crabs and whelks. The latter can be bought raw and frozen or blanched and frozen.
Together we process and sell over 2,000 tonnes of crab per annum with ambitions to expand and increase our capacity in the very near future.
Animal Welfare Policy
Animal welfare is at the centre of our business; our animal welfare policy outlines our commitment to the welfare of the shellfish we handle and process. We acknowledge that decapod crustaceans are sentient beings as outlined in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, and have developed a policy which ensures that Orkney Crab are following best practices. You can read our full Animal Welfare Policy here.
We believe that Orkney Crab is the best in the world. Our mission is to have all our customers agree.
