A Brief history:
Cawoods(Fishcurers) Ltd has been a processor of dried salted fish for over 113 years. Originally based in Hull, and then with factories both Hull and Grimsby, The company ultimately consolidated all its production operations into the one site at Grimsby at the start of 2002.

Salted Fish as a product has been in existence for centuries. Mediterranean peoples had always salted fish, while the ancient Vikings had air-dried white fish species- in both cases to preserve the products by removing moisture otherwise available to speed bacterial spoilage. Ultimately the two processes came together to produce a unique product with a long shelf-life at ambient conditions, plus favour enhancement from the salt and a satisfying meaty texture from the drying process.

Only low-fat white fish species like cod, saithe and ling can successfully salted and dried. By the natural chemical process of osmosis salt is absorbed while moisture is released from the fish. There is a natural limit to this, however, and drying is necessary to reduce the moisture content still further. In the olden days this was achieved by laying the fish out to dry in the air and sun, but today we use dehumidified drying tunnels.

In spain and portugual dried salted cod is known as Bacalo, and in Portugual is that country’s national dish. In the Caribbean the product is known generically as Codfish or Saltfish, and is part of the culture of the islands providing both salt and protein. Cawoods Supply both of these exports market plus others, as well as being the principal supplier to the mainly West Indian ethnic market in the UK.