Food showcase expected to create millions in sales

Scottish Food and drink companies are forecasting huge additional sales, over the next three years, as a direct result of attending last year’s Showcasing Scotland event at Gleneagles.

The networking event brought together around 150 international and UK buyers, with 145 Scottish food and drink businesses.

The £63 million figures is the total international and UK estimated sales, which can be traced directly as a result of meetings producers had with buyers who attended the three day flagship event last year*.

The news comes on the back of recent statistics showing that exports of Scottish food and drink is at its highest levels on record, valued at over £6 billion annually.

Welcoming the news from the annual Scotland Food and Drink Global Market Insights Event in Falkirk, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said:

“Scotland’s natural larder is of the highest quality and provenance, so it is no surprise that when we showcase what we have to offer, buyers invariably like what they see.

“Nonetheless, these are fantastic sales predictions, and they haven’t come about by chance: they are the result of countless hours of toil by hard-working farmers, producers and processors, working together in an industry that, domestically at least is enjoying a period of unprecedented collaboration, innovation and growth.

“The role of our in-market specialists should not be underestimated either, who provided invaluable, expert advice to hundreds of people who attended last years’ showcase, and acted as a vital conduit between Scotland and international markets and businesses.  

“The Scottish Government continues to do what we can to help our food and drink industry to double its value to £30 billion, by 2030.”

James Withers, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink added:

"Showcasing Scotland is one of the clearest demonstrations of how far our food and drink sector has come in the last few years. We now have a reputation for world class products and businesses and its attracting the top buyers from across the UK and around the world. We’ve got companies that are big and small, start-ups and long-established, making giant strides forward from an event that is generating millions in new business. This scale of impact only happens because Government and the industry are working as one and pooling their resources. All of which is making food and drink a star sector in Scotland’s economy.”

Susan Beattie, head of food and drink at SDI outlined the significant benefit of Showcasing Scotland:

”This was the third Showcasing Scotland event we’ve delivered with our partners, Scotland Food & Drink, and the most successful yet.  It connected almost 145 Scottish suppliers with around 100 international buyers, leading to exciting new opportunities for many companies.   This has been made possible through the Scottish Food & Drink Export Partnership, with the in-market specialists building customer relationships in the top prospect markets and the SDI trade team providing advice and support to Scottish businesses with international ambition.”