Future arrangements to secure food standards and safety in Scotland

Chapter 3 - The Scottish Food Industry

14. Introduction

14.1 The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the importance of the Scottish Food Industry by describing the economic significance of the industry to the Scottish economy. This includes the meat sector of the industry for which the meat inspection service exists.

15. Sustainable Economic Growth

15.1 The Scottish Economic Recovery Plan identifies the Food and Drink industry as a key sector which offers Scotland particular opportunities for growth due to existing comparative advantages and through the potential to capitalise on Scotland's unique natural assets. The recently refreshed food and drink industry strategy provides strong direction for longer-term expansion of the sector, aiming to grow the industry turnover from £10 billion to £12.5 billion by 2017. In achieving this it is essential that food standards and safety are maintained.

15.2 The aim of Scotland's National Food and Drink Policy - Recipe for Success - is to promote Scotland's sustainable economic growth by ensuring that the Scottish Government's focus in relation to food and drink addresses quality, health and wellbeing, and environmental sustainability, recognising the need for access and affordability at the same time. The FSA also has a key role to play in supporting Recipe For Success^[13].

16. The Scottish Food Industry

16.1 The food and drink key sector encompasses food and drink manufacturing, agriculture, sea fishing and aquaculture, and is a critical component of Scotland's economy. In 2009 the food and drink key sector contributed £11.9 billion to turnover in Scotland and employed over 113,000 people^[14].

16.2 In 2009 nearly 1,200 businesses were involved in food and drink manufacturing which makes up 13% of all manufacturing business units in Scotland and employs over 44,000 people. The whole of the food and drink supply chain comprises over 75,000 business units and employs 360,000 people. Of these, over 67,000 were employed in the agriculture sector.

16.3 In Scotland, the production of beverages accounts for nearly 70% of manufactured food and drink. Bakery and farinaceous products account for just over 10% with fish, meat and dairy processing covering 7%, 4.5% and 3.4% respectively. Fruit and vegetable processing accounts for less that 0.5% of food manufacturing in Scotland.

16.4 28% of all Scottish processors output is sold within Scotland, 45% is sold in the rest of the UK and 27% is exported worldwide.

17. Imports and Exports

17.1 Total food imports in 2010 stood at £1.1b, an increase of 66% from 2007, with the top three sectors being feeding stuff for animals (£406m), dairy (£144m) and fruits and vegetables (£142m). With Argentina (17%), France (17%) and the Netherlands (11%) being the top three countries from which Scotland imported food.

17.2 Food and drink exports were valued at £4.5 billion in 2010, up 28% from 2007. The top three sub-sectors in 2010 were fish and shellfish (£623m, 59%), dairy (£99m, 9%) and cereals (£75m, 7%). 10 countries accounted for 80% of all Scottish food exports. The top three countries to whom we export were France (26%), Irish Republic (9%), and Spain (8%). Food and drink exports to the rest of the UK increased by 36% over the period 2007 to 2010 from £4,355 million to £5,935 million.

18. Meat processing in Scotland

18.1 The Scottish red meat abattoir sector is very diverse in its structure. The FSA lists 32 licensed red meat abattoirs plus 2 micro on-farm facilities; both licensed for farmed deer although one also holds an ovine licence. Ten of these abattoirs are located on islands.

18.2 The ten island abattoirs are multi-species abattoirs providing a significant community service but, with the exception of Orkney, can all be considered to be micro abattoirs with very low throughputs, typically less than 10 cattle, 10 sheep and 5 pigs per week although there can be seasonal variation, particularly on lambs. Most provide a year-round service and one operates seasonally. Those that do operate all year-round operate on only a limited number of days per week.

18.3 Of 22 mainland abattoirs, four are licensed only for pigs, one is only licensed for sheep and two are only licensed to kill cattle. Not all plants slaughter every species for which they are licensed.

18.4 Throughput at mainland plants is diverse with the majority of the kill concentrated into few plants, particularly for sheep and pigs.

Cattle	<= 50 hd/wk	51-100 hd/wk	101-200 hd/wk	201-500 hd/wk	501-1000 hd/wk	>1000 hd/wk
% of mainland Abattoirs	12%	18%	12%	18%	22%	18%
% of mainland kill	1%	2%	3%	11%	34%	49%

 

Sheep	<= 100 hd/wk	101-500 hd/wk	501-1000 hd/wk	1001-5000 hd/wk	>5000 hd/wk
% of mainland Abattoirs	13%	40%	7%	20%	20%
% of mainland kill	1%	4%	3%	14%	78%

 

Pigs	<= 50 hd/wk	51-100 hd/wk	101-200 hd/wk	201-500 hd/wk	501-1000 hd/wk	1000-2000 hd/wk	>2000 hd/wk
% of mainland Abattoirs	30%	23%	23%	0%	8%	0%	15%
% of mainland kill	1%	2%	5%	0%	7%	0%	85%

18.5 Scotland has a higher proportion of large abattoirs and the Scottish kill is concentrated in the larger abattoirs: for example 89% of the Scottish cattle kill is to be found in abattoirs handling more than 20,000 head per year. Scotland has a greater concentration of larger abattoirs than England: 37.5% of Scottish abattoirs licensed to kill cattle kill more than 20,000 head per year compared to 12.5% in England. Similarly 22% of abattoirs licensed to kill sheep in Scotland handle more than 100,000 head a year compared to 12.5% in England

18.6 The large Scottish mainland abattoirs are also meat suppliers not service suppliers. That is they do not do contract kill but work as meat wholesalers, with many heavily dependent upon multiple retail contracts. According to the QMS Red Meat Industry profile, during 2010 two-thirds of beef, almost half of sheepmeat and more than 70% of pigmeat leaving Scottish abattoirs is delivered to UK multiple retailers. Such multiple retail contracts come with extensive quality assurance demands either through the British Retail Consortium (BRC standard number 6) or independent multiple retail plant inspections.

19. Conclusion

19.1 The food and drink sector is of considerable importance to Scotland. Maintenance of standards and food safety and ability of consumers to make informed choices is of benefit to the development of the food industry. It is important for Scotland to be able to react quickly to new developments and to new markets as part of the economic recovery. To do this will need adequate resources and an agency that can act quickly and effectively.

19.2 The success of Scotland as an exporting country is determined by the quality of its produce and the confidence that other countries have in Scotland's food safety standards and their enforcement. In addition a key element of the success of Scotland's Food and Drink industry is its ability to distinguish itself from other areas based on the quality of its produce. To achieve that it is important that food standards and safety are maintained at the highest possible level to ensure the maintenance and enhancement of Scotland's food and drink reputation. The challenge for meat inspection is to find a way of meeting both the requirements of the small, remote abattoirs and the large mainland abattoirs that undergo several plant and process inspections per year from their multiple retail customers.

19.3 Any changes to the FSA and Meat Inspection Service must not have a negative impact on the status and reputation of the Scottish food industry and also fulfil the Scottish Government's priority to protect public health and consumer confidence.