WE’VE BEEN SERIOUS ABOUT SALT FOR OVER 150 YEARS!
Have you ever wondered what happens to those enormous piles of salt regularly seen on the dockside at Ayr Harbour? They have come from Spain and are destined for our huge salt warehouse at the Port of Ayr. Here the salt is bagged and ready for distribution to destinations throughout the UK, where it is used for winter de-icing on roads, bridges, pavements, railway stations and so on.
However, de-icing salt is only one of our products. At Peacock Salt, we offer over 100 different types of salt for over 14,000 different uses. We distribute up to 500,000 tonnes of salt annually to more than 40,000 destinations across the UK. We are, indeed, "Serious about Salt”.
OUR STORY
In 2024, Peacock Salt celebrated 150 years in business. This makes us, by far, the oldest salt company in the UK, and one of the oldest in the world. We have grown from humble beginnings in 1874, when my industrious and enterprising great great grandfather, John Craig Peacock, founded his Company for ship chartering and agency work on the River Clyde.
The Company later became involved in ship-building and developed international relationships across Europe, North Africa and North America, thus laying the foundations for connections which remain today. In the post-war years, the Company shifted direction away from ship-building to focussing on its salt-importing business and now, five generations later, I am Managing Director of Peacock Salt.
It is appropriate that we are located in Ayr as the west of Scotland has a deep-rooted historical connection with salt. Ayrshire’s rugged coastline provided a natural setting for salt production during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, with its abundant supply of sea water and access to fuel such as coal and wood. It was an ideal location for salt panning - the method of extracting salt by evaporating seawater - and once the Ayrshire coast was lined with salt pans. There were nine at Ayr alone. Today, while the salt pans are long gone, the legacy of the salt industry remains embedded in place names such as Ayr’s Saltpans Road and Saltfield Lane.
OUR PRODUCTS
Salt has always been an important commodity in everyday life and with more than 14,000 known uses, it’s one of the most versatile minerals on the planet.
Our salt is widely used in a multitude of industries including food production, water softening, pharmaceutics, aquaculture, tanning, animal feed, cosmetics and much more.
• Food Production
Salt is vital for the food industry. There are numerous reasons why salt is a key ingredient in most foods - it provides saltiness, a taste we enjoy; it enhances other flavours in food; it affects texture; and it acts as a preservative to prolong shelf-life.
However, salt has been shown to be damaging to our health if consumed in high quantities, and as both government guidelines and consumer demands change, many food manufacturers are now looking at how to reduce the salt levels in their products.
A major challenge to salt reduction is ensuring there is no discernible change to either the taste or texture of the product. At Peacock Salt we have a specialist team, Saltsmith, which works with individual companies to tailor-make solutions for lowering the salt content without compromising taste, texture, or shelf-life.
• Winter de-icing
An important use of salt is as a winter de-icer. Here at Peacock Salt we strive to provide de-icing products which are effective, do not damage the transport infrastructure or its environment, are safe to use close to lakes, rivers and drinking watershed areas and are safe for use around pets and wildlife. We are one of the UK’s leading winter maintenance providers supplying products across the UK to ensure that carparks, roads, bridges, railways, airports, stately homes, caravan sites and even wildlife parks and zoos remain safe and in operation over the winter months.
• Water softening
Another use of salt is in water softening. We are fortunate in Scotland to have soft water however in other parts of the UK hard water affects a large proportion of homes. Although there is no robust evidence that consumption of hard water causes health issues, it undoubtedly can be detrimental to skin and hair and have many negative repercussions from the build-up of limescale on water systems. This affects the lifespan and function of central heating boilers, kettles, ice machines, washing machines, dishwashers and it damages taps, shower systems and plumbing. We offer a wide range of Water Softener salt-based products.
• Aquaculture
In aquaculture (fish farming) salt serves many purposes including the control of parasites and prevention of disease; and it is essential in fish processing both to minimise stress among fish while they are being transported and in preparing them for the food market by pickling and curing. Peacock Salt supplies many types of salt to this industry.
We also produce Seamix which, when mixed with tap water, produces clean and safe simulated seawater.
• Artisan Salt
We have our own artisan salt, Blackthorn Salt, produced using a traditional method involving a graduation tower made with blackthorn twigs, through which seawater is filtered. This allows for natural evaporation by wind and sun before the remaining brine is processed in an internal “pan house”. Our tower is the only functioning graduation tower in Europe using seawater in this fashion. Since its installation in 2019, we have had many visitors to the Tower, including some of Scotland’s top chefs and our local politicians. We’ve also hosted the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra who performed for us from the top of the tower!
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
We share a belief in community engagement with The Alloway Railway Tunnel Project. We want our employees to take ownership of activities going on in our local community and each year we support a local charity, either by sponsored fund-raising or by providing practical help. Every employee is expected to join in and offer his or her support. In the past we have been sponsored to row from the Port of Arran to Port of Ayr, to climb Goat Fell and to walk the length of the River Ayr.
This year we are helping River Garden at Auchincruive. This charity provides residential training and support for people recovering from drug/alcohol abuse. We have supplied materials, tools and man/woman power to help develop their community garden. Our project is called ‘Graft for Growth’ and, working in shifts, we have planted, weeded, built and carried out general maintenance. Each employee worked there for a day, donning wellies and rolling up their sleeves to help wherever needed. We firmly believe these charity initiatives greatly benefit our employees as well as lending a helping hand to a worthwhile cause.
Gregorie Marshall
