I first came across Sea Sisters in May 2024, in one of those delis stacked with things you don't know you need, but somehow walk out of with a bag full. The unmissably bright Sea Sisters cans hooked me straight away, not only because of the fun packaging, but also for the simple, imaginative ingredients inside. When I realised that each can is handmade using British fish and produced in my hometown of Bridport in Dorset, I felt so excited that this kind of real food production was happening right on my doorstep. I emailed the customer service address to say how much I loved what they were doing, and Charlotte, the co-founder, invited me to come into the cannery the next day.
After meeting Charlotte and learning more about Sea Sisters, I found myself pointing at the calendar and saying, ‘So I can start next week.’ Clearly, my decision was already made. A rather bold move on my part, but I soon learned that Sea Sisters isn’t for the faint-hearted anyway. I drove home smiling, with a strong sense that this was a company genuinely trying to do things the right way.
I was straight into the cannery on day one. Angus, Charlotte's partner, co-founder, and the chef behind all the Sea Sisters recipes, gave me my uniform: an apron, hairnet, gloves, and a pair of LIDL wellies. He wasted no time and showed me how to fillet hake, a Cornish fish, before it was brined. It was fiddly work; a real skill that demands practice, speed and precision, so as not to damage its delicate flesh. Brining also turned out to be a bit of a science. Each fillet is cut in half, separating the loin and tail. These are then categorised by size, with their own brining time. Despite the precision the work required, the cannery was never quiet as we spent the day reeling off our favourite tunes and episodes of Desert Island Discs while preparing the hake for its journey to the can.
Even in these early days I really felt the dedication behind the Sea Sisters mission to support the British fishing industry. It was slow, but steady progress. It’s inspiring to see how much Sea Sisters has grown since then. Today, the cannery team alone is eight people strong, and Sea Sisters British Conservas are now stocked in over 300 stores across the UK.
As my skills developed and my confidence grew, the cannery also moved through its own seasons. Summer was all about salty, silvery sardines, lunch on the grass, and long evenings at the beach after work with Charlotte and Angus and a growing team of colleagues, fueled always by crisps and conservas (the European name for the kind of high-quality, artisanal canned fish we were making). Winter brought mussels, mussels, and more mussels; cold hands, steamed-up windows, and the slow rhythm of shucking. Spring brought cuttlefish, their jet-black ink staining the tables and our fingers, and brighter, earlier starts to the day. With each new species and recipe came more learning about what is local, where it lands, how it has been caught, who is involved, and how those decisions impact our environment.
Alongside these seasonal shifts came seasons of people. In the early days, we were a small crew. Working for Angus, who develops all the Sea Sisters recipes, we learned so much about flavours, methods, and processes in food production. As the months went by, more people joined us. They brought a willingness to muck in, to show up through constant change and fast-paced days, with a lot of laughter. I found it impossible not to love it. It wasn’t like any other job I’d had; the relationships, the variety in routine and learning so much, and the feeling of working towards something positive together made it such a joy.
More orders started coming in (after a few TV appearances for Charlotte and Angus!). People were loving the cans, and we had to find a new rhythm while meeting the growing demand. As the business grew, I moved into the office full-time, working with Charlotte across operations, sales, and marketing. I was learning constantly, and one of the things I loved most was being able to communicate our story; why Sea Sisters exists, and why the way we produce food really matters.
I said a fond farewell to Sea Sisters to go travelling just before Christmas 2025. I’m now writing this from India, where I’ve really noticed how much time and care go into making nourishing and authentic food. Meals here are prepared freshly, by many hands, and stories are shared whilst cooking and eating together. I love this mindset. Even though I’m miles away, it feels familiar. Tomorrow I set off to climb Chandershilla Peak in the Uttarakhand region of India, and Dorset feels a long way away. Still, the values around food here have been a quiet anchor to Sea Sisters and life back home.