Good reasons to celebrate for Scotland’s food and drink producers
Let’s raise a glass to the hardworking people who bring us such high quality food and drink, says David Thomson
Over the Christmas break most of us are lucky enough to be able to relax and spend some quality time with our friends and family. Part of this will of course involve enjoying some of the best food and drink Scotland has to offer. This could include sharing smoked salmon or cheese at a family party or tucking into haggis with a dram of whisky at a Hogmanay bash.
When you do so, spare a thought for those who have worked to get these great dishes to your table. Our food and drink producers, from agriculture, fishing and aquaculture through to manufacturing contribute £14 billion each year to Scotland’s economy. Most of these 17,000 companies are in the agriculture sector, followed by fishing, then manufacturing and processing. According to Scottish Enterprise – although the manufacturing part of the industry accounts for only about 6 per cent of the company base – it generates 75 per cent of the gross value added and is responsible for almost 100 per cent of exports.
This is certainly reason for FDF Scotland’s food and drink manufacturing members to celebrate. On top of that recent stats show that exports of all UK food and drink grew to £5.9bn in Q3 2017, up 14.7 per cent on 2016. With whisky and salmon being the top two exported products – most of which comes, naturally, from Scotland.
The food and drink industry’s success is largely due to the hard-working and passionate people that make up our vibrant sector. Christmas is one the busiest times of the year for our members – with most companies and their teams working even harder to ensure they can make enough of their products to meet the increased seasonal demand. Our members don’t just see increased sales at home but also on the international stage – and for some this is not just for Christmas!
Iconic Scottish brand Macsween of Edinburgh is an internationallyrecognised food company which has been at the forefront of haggis making for 60 years. They’ve also just earned the title of “Scotland’s Most Loved Haggis” which is the focal point of their winter campaign including new packaging, a pop-up cinema event and other exciting initiatives. The company sees a peak in sales over winter starting with St Andrew’s Day, then again at Hogmanay, with the final peak at the end of January for Burns Night. It is not a Scottish celebration without haggis!
The company’s ambition is to make Macsween haggis available world- wide – to do this they have been working hard identifying growth markets and developing recipes true to their tradition that allow entry into these different markets.
This hard work has paid off – Macsween has become the first genuine Scottish haggis to reach consumers in Canada in 46 years and Singapore in 21 years.
They began exporting to both markets in August 2017 and since then have seen steady growth in sales. In order to break into these countries they have worked with the various national food agencies to get their recipe and facility approved.
In addition, they are constantly looking for other new opportunities overseas.
Another iconic Scottish brand based in Edinburgh has had significant export success. Nairn’s has been baking oat-based products including oatcakes, crackers, biscuits, oat based snacks in Scotland since 1896 and now have a very successful gluten free range as well. They see an increase in sales over the festive period but once celebrations come to an end – they see an even larger increase in sales in January/february - due to a focus on healthy eating.
Nairn’s exports account for approximately 10 per cent of the company’s turnover and they have seen this increase around 20 per cent year on year, in line with their export ambitions.
Their most successful export mar- kets are the USA, Canada, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Cyprus. The company is focusing on developing new markets, as well as growing sales in their current markets. To do this they are investing to expand their distribution networks and to develop consumer awareness of the Nairn’s brand.
Understanding and acceptance of gluten free oats has been challenging in some markets but gluten free is quickly becoming their most successful range internationally.
Food and drink is a vital part of our economy and also an important part of everyone’s lives. As you enjoy some amazing Scottish food and drink over the festive period (and afterwards) please remember to raise your glass to the hard-working people in the food and drink industry. Without them we wouldn’t be lucky enough to enjoy such a variety of high quality food and drink. David Thomson, CEO, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland