By 2050, the world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion – and with that comes a 52% increase in global protein demand. At the same time, consumers are demanding more from their food: fresher, cleaner, local, and produced with minimal environmental impact.
That’s why we set out to reimagine how seafood is grown. Instead of trawling oceans or relying on high-emission imports, we’re farming King Prawns on land – right here in Scotland – using renewable energy and without releasing waste into the sea.
Why King Prawns? They grow fast (just three months from hatch to harvest), and every single King Prawn currently eaten in the UK is imported from tropical farms in Asia and South America. These imports can carry a staggering carbon footprint – up to 40 tonnes of CO₂e per kilogram. By contrast, our Scottish-grown prawns are clean, nutritious, and climate-friendly.
And why Fife? Because it’s already home to some of the best local produce in the UK. For us, there was never any question – if we’re building the future of sustainable seafood, it belongs here.
Introducing Eden Valley Prawns
What inspired you to develop a prawn farm here in Fife?
Tell us a bit about the team behind Eden Valley Prawns and how their experience shapes what you do.
Eden Valley Prawns is a family-run business led by Sarah and Andrew Whiston, two marine biologists who met at the University of St Andrews – longer ago than they’re willing to admit. Sarah runs the show with sharp business acumen, while Andrew proudly fills the role of resident “mad scientist,” tackling the technical challenges of sustainable aquaculture.
Their son Daniel leads sales, bringing our prawns from tank to table across the country.
We’re backed by a brilliant team that shares our values. Cara Anderson, our site manager and fellow St Andrews alumna, brings experience, drive, and Edinburgh charm to the operation. David Gaughan, our qualified engineer from the lang toon of Kirkcaldy, keeps our systems running smoothly and efficiently.
Together, we’re united by a shared belief: that real environmental sustainability isn’t just good for the planet – it’s good for business too.
How does being based at the University of St Andrews Eden Campus influence or support your business?
We’re proud to have deep roots at the University of St Andrews – in fact, more than half our team are alumni. Through the University’s Innovation Centre, we have access to cutting-edge advice, resources, and support, and we regularly collaborate with researchers across campus to pioneer new ways of reducing our environmental impact. Our ultimate goal? To become a carbon-negative company.
The Innovation Centre has championed our work from the start – they’re not just supporters, but regular visitors, often including us as a key stop on their Eden Campus tours. It’s a true partnership that helps push the boundaries of what sustainable seafood can be.
Describe your prawn farming process including what sustainable practices you use and what makes your approach unique?
Clean Prawns, Clean Conscience: Rethinking How King Prawns Are Grown!
The truth behind most King Prawns is hard to swallow. Traditionally, they’re farmed in tropical countries where mangrove forests are cleared to make way for muddy ponds. These ponds are often loaded with antibiotics and chemicals. In many cases, human rights abuses, including forced labour, are part of the supply chain. The environmental and ethical costs are staggering.
At our farm in Fife, we’ve created a radically different approach.
Our King Prawns are grown in enclosed, highly insulated buildings that protect both the prawns and the environment. Because our system prevents disease naturally, we never need to use antibiotics or harmful chemicals. Powered by Scottish sunshine, our farm uses solar panels, solar thermal, and biomass heating to create the perfect conditions for healthy, sustainable seafood.
We’ve also engineered major efficiency gains: our system uses 20 times less heat, 12 times less water, and 10 times less electricity than conventional aquaculture. It’s not just better for the planet — it makes for a cleaner, fresher product too.
Most King Prawns are frozen after harvest and then travel over 7,000 miles to reach your plate, at which point they can be six months old. Ours are harvested to order and delivered fresh — no freezing, no sulphite preservatives, just pure unadulterated flavour.
It’s sustainable seafood, reimagined.
What challenges have you faced in establishing a prawn farm in Scotland, and how have you overcome them?
At the start, our biggest hurdle wasn’t technical – it was convincing people we weren’t completely mad for trying to grow King Prawns in St Andrews. It took a management buyout, arguably the riskiest decision we’ve ever made, just to get things off the ground.
Then came the funding challenge. In Scotland, what we do sits in a grey area – not quite farming, and not the kind of aquaculture that gets automatic support (that’s mostly reserved for salmon). There was no off-the-shelf help.
But then we found Lynne Baillie at Fife Business Gateway and Alan Balfour at Scottish Enterprise – two champions of innovation who believed in our vision. With their backing, we’ve cracked the commercial model, jumped through the regulatory hoops and we’re ready to fly.
Now, we’re facing our biggest challenge yet: scaling up. Going from a couple of tonnes a year to ten tonnes a week is no small feat — but it’s the next step toward building a new and truly sustainable seafood system for Scotland and the UK.
What range of products do you offer, and how do you ensure their quality and freshness?
Fresh. Scottish. Traceable. Never Frozen.
We offer fresh, never frozen King Prawns, grown sustainably right here in Scotland.
Raised without antibiotics or sulphite preservatives, our prawns are clean, sweet, and naturally delicious – the way seafood should be. Because we grow them ourselves in a carefully controlled indoor environment, we can guarantee both quality and freshness with every harvest.
And with full traceability from hatch to harvest, you’ll always know exactly where your prawns come from – and how they were raised.
How do you engage with local restaurants, retailers, and customers to promote Eden Valley Prawns?
Local Know-How, Built on Trust.
At Eden Valley Prawns, we’re fortunate to have Sarah Whiston at the helm. With years of experience selling locally caught lobsters to top hotels and restaurants across the region, Sarah understands exactly what chefs and diners are looking for. In this business, reputation and word of mouth are everything – and Sarah’s built both through a track record of quality, consistency, and trust.
Sustainability is important in aquaculture – how does Eden Valley Prawns contribute to environmental stewardship?
Why Our Prawns Don’t Cost the Earth:
Most King Prawns on UK plates come at a hidden cost. Imported from Asia and South America, they’re typically farmed in tropical ponds created by clearing precious mangrove forests – an act that releases up to 1.6 tonnes of CO₂e per kilogram of prawns produced. Globally, prawn farming is now thought to be responsible for over half of all mangrove loss.
This matters. Mangroves are among the planet’s most powerful carbon sinks and richest ecosystems. They protect coastlines from flooding and support extraordinary biodiversity – and yet they’re being lost at an alarming rate.
At Eden Valley Prawns, we’ve taken a different route.
Our King Prawns are grown on a brownfield site in Scotland, with absolutely no environmental destruction. Instead of crossing oceans – a 7,200-mile oil-fuelled journey for most frozen imports – our prawns travel just a few hours (sometimes minutes!) to reach customers.
They’re also raised without antibiotics – one of the leading contributors to antimicrobial resistance, a growing threat to global health. By farming in a closed, indoor environment, we keep our prawns healthy without chemicals.
Our farm is powered by Scottish sunshine and renewable biomass, making it one of the cleanest, lowest-impact ways to produce premium seafood – fresh, local, and planet-friendly.
What role does innovation and research play in your day-to-day operations?
From Cold Climates to Warmwater Prawns: A Scottish Seafood First
We’ve been working on the challenge of growing King Prawns in Scotland since 2018 – and let’s just say, it hasn’t been easy. Raising a tropical species at over 30°C in a country better known for rain and woolly jumpers required serious innovation.
To make it happen, we’ve invested years of research into developing an energy-efficient aquaculture system that works in our northern climate – without compromising on sustainability. Along the way, we’ve collaborated with some of the UK’s brightest minds, from ultra-low temperature physicists to geologists, all helping us bring this ambitious idea to life.
R&D isn’t a side project for us – it’s at the centre of everything we do.
How do you see Eden Valley Prawns fitting into the wider Fife and Scottish food and drink scene?
A New Product in a Proud Seafood Nation
Locally produced King Prawns are brand new to the UK — but when it comes to seafood, there’s no better place to launch than Scotland. With its world-class reputation for quality and provenance, we’re proud to be adding something truly unique to the Scottish seafood story.
Here in Fife, we’re surrounded by a vibrant network of food producers and suppliers, and we’re excited to become part of that community. Organisations like Seafood Scotland have already visited us at Eden Campus, and their support in helping us connect with Scotland’s food and drink scene has been absolutely invaluable.
Are you involved in any collaborations or partnerships within the local food community?
Yes, we’re excited that we’ll be launching our King Prawns to the wider public at the Balgove Night Market later this year – a perfect setting to showcase fresh, local, sustainable seafood at its best.
We’re actively looking to partner with local food businesses who share our passion for quality, provenance, and innovation. Whether you’re a chef, retailer, or fellow producer, we’d love to hear from you.
Our door is always open, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
What feedback have you received from customers and chefs about your prawns so far?
Everyone who’s tasted them says the same thing: these are the best King Prawns they’ve ever had. Naturally sweet, firm in texture, and without that “fishy” smell – just clean, delicate flavour.
What makes the difference? It starts with exceptional animal welfare, one of the core values of our business. Our prawns are raised in a calm, healthy environment and harvested to order – going from tank to plate in just a few hours. That freshness, combined with the care we take at every stage, is what makes our prawns truly stand out.
What makes Eden Valley Prawns a great choice for chefs compared to traditional sea-caught prawns?
The Only British King Prawns – and the Story Behind Their Incredible Taste
Every King Prawn sold in the UK today is imported – usually from large-scale tropical farms in Asia or South America. These operations often rely on antibiotics, chemical additives, and sulphite preservatives, and they come with heavy environmental and ethical costs: mangrove deforestation, carbon-intensive shipping, and serious labour concerns.
We’ve taken a very different path.
At our farm in Fife, we grow King Prawns in clean, recirculated seawater, using no antibiotics, no chemical additives, and no preservatives. Our prawns are raised in a closed-loop system powered by Scottish solar and biomass energy – and we discharge no waste into the environment. It’s a ‘close to the market’ model designed for freshness, flavour, and sustainability.
The result? A King Prawn that doesn’t just taste better – it tells a better story. And in the world of high-end dining, story matters.
Restaurants love the fact that we’re the UK’s only producers of fresh King Prawns. Chefs appreciate the sweet, clean flavour and firm texture. Diners are often amazed by the difference – and that’s because our prawns go from tank to plate in hours, not months.
Our commitment to welfare, freshness, and sustainability doesn’t just make for a great product – it creates a whole new product for Scottish seafood.
What are your plans for growth or new product development in the near future?
We’ve proven that it’s possible to grow clean, delicious King Prawns on land – right here in Scotland. Now, we’re ready to scale.
We’re currently seeking investment to expand beyond our pilot farm and build a full-scale facility capable of producing 10 tonnes of prawns per week. We’re also on the lookout for coastal land to host this next chapter in sustainable aquaculture.
If you share our passion for ethical food, climate-conscious innovation, and building a better seafood supply chain, we’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch: info@edenvalleyprawns.com
In terms of ordering- what’s the best way to order, what shelf life can customers expect and how are they packaged & delivered?
How to Get Your Hands on the Freshest King Prawns in the UK
Ordering our sustainably farmed King Prawns is easy — and they’re available fresh, never frozen.
Order by:
Text: 07555 591983
Email: sales@edenvalleyprawns.com
Online: www.edenvalleyprawns.com
Order cut-off:
Place your order by noon the day before delivery.
Delivery info:
Local deliveries (Tues–Sat)
National delivery via DPD (arrives Wed–Fri, overnight on ice)
Shelf life:
Our prawns currently have a 5-day shelf life, but they’ve passed that with ease, so we’re working toward a 7, or even 10-day window.
Packaging & portions:
Trade customers can order by number or weight — whatever’s easiest
Retail customers can buy 250g packs, perfect for meals at home
All packaging is fully recyclable, and products are transported on ice for optimal freshness
Because our prawns have never been frozen, you can enjoy them fresh – or freeze them at home for later.
www.edenvalleyprawns.com
Email: info@edenvalleyprawns.com
Tel: 07555 591 983
