H. Forman & Son is a

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

smokery A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

located (in a building shaped like a piece of salmon) in Fish Island,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

run by former

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

MEP and Conservative Party MEP, Lance Forman (birth name: Lance Anisfeld).

London Cure Smoked Salmon

H. Forman & Son produces "London Cure Smoked Salmon", which is protected under the EU

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...

scheme. The application for protected status was submitted by Lance Forman and was supported by then

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

, who opened the factory in 2009. It is the first London-based food to obtain this EU protected status."EU set to grant special status to salmon from East End smokery"
''The Guardian'', 11 September 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2019 The designation provides protected name status to products under EU law, allowing the London Cure Smoked Salmon to be labelled and protected with an EU trade mark. Forman stated he was "very proud" of the designation, but later dismissed the idea the EU has advanced H. Forman & Son, telling ''Salmon Business'' “I can honestly say that having been in the EU hasn’t created any serious commercial advantages for our business". The London Cure Smoked Salmon has featured on the menus of the dining rooms in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and has also been sold in

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

and

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

Public relations

Following a lengthy dispute, the site of the business was relocated in 2007 from the area which is now the London Olympic Park as part a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for ...

by the

London Development Agency The London Development Agency (LDA) was from July 2000 until 2012 the regional development agency for the Greater London, London region in England. A functional body of the Greater London Authority, its purpose was to drive sustainable economic ...

(LDA) involving more than 200 companies for the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The cost of relocation to its current premises - a building shaped like a piece of salmon, with a roof resembling salmon skin - was shared between the company and the LDA. The business faced threats of a local boycott in the wake of Lance Forman's election as a London MEP for the

, a group which won only 6% of votes locally in the May 2019 European Parliament elections. Police investigations were opened in the run-up to the elections after a 10-metre

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

was spray-painted on the side of the business in a suspected anti-semitic attack. Forman claimed that he did not believe his business was targeted due to his Jewish heritage but rather because he supported

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. In November 2019, the business was publicly criticised by the mayors of Tower Hamlets and Hackney for hosting a public meeting of Turning Point UK (the British incarnation of

Turning Point USA Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgo ...

, a controversial, right-wing, pro-

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

organisation). Lance Forman, owner of the business, who was also on a panel at the meeting, defended the decision saying he was in favour of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

FDA rulings

The United States

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

(FDA) issued a

FDA warning letter An FDA warning letter is an official message from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to a manufacturer or other organization that has violated some rule in a federally regulated activity. The FDA defines an FDA warning letter as: ...

to Formans' on 12 May 2020; the FDA accepted the company was in compliance on 29 September 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman, H, and Son Companies based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Smoked fish 1905 establishments in England