Choosing the Right Ingredients: The Future for Food in Scotland: Discussion Paper

How will we get there?

Needless to say, these are just first steps. Our aim, as we've already said, is to have a future food and drink industry that's fully joined-up throughout the whole supply chain, and that plays an integral part in a healthier, wealthier and fairer, safer and stronger, greener and smarter Scotland.

We have our own ideas about how we might get there. So do many of the other people we've already talked to. Here's a summary of these ideas:

Producers

• Fishing sustainably and responsibly, bringing healthy, quality fish to the consumer
• Producing leaner meat
• Producing more organic meat, fish, fruit and vegetables
• Maintaining higher health and welfare status of livestock
• Growing more fruit and vegetables
• Working more closely with public sector food buyers
• Knowing their target markets better, training their employees to a high level, and selling the products that people want
• Investing in schemes so people know where food comes from
• Working with processors to make the most of the supply chain relationship

Processors and manufacturers

• Working more closely with public sector food buyers
• Innovating and developing more products with reduced salt, saturated fats and sugar content
• Using energy and other resources more efficiently, and generating less waste
• Training employees to a high level and creating new and imaginative products that people want to buy
• Working with producers to add value and help export sales
• Collaborating with producers and retailers to deliver a more sustainable food supply
• Adding value to primary produce and help develop markets at home and abroad

Retailers

• Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with Scottish producers, processors, Government and consumers
• Using energy and other resources more efficiently, and generating less waste in their stores and distribution networks
• Promoting and selling more affordable and healthier foods that are clearly signposted and labelled
• Encouraging people to buy more Scottish produce

Hotels, restaurants and pubs

• Offering more fresh, seasonal produce
• Offering more healthy choices
• Giving people more information about the food they're eating
• Continually improving the quality of their menus

Consumers

• Eating less salt, saturated fat and sugary ingredients
• Making positive, healthy choices about food
• Buying fresh, seasonal produce at affordable prices
• Buying better quality products
• Throwing less food away
• Eating more fish
• Using fewer plastic bags
• Walking rather than driving to the shops
• Knowing more about where food comes from
• Learning more about taste, nutrition and cooking from an early age
• Buying food from producers with assured health and welfare standards