Laying the foundations to build sustainable growth for the Scottish food and drink industry
Today, alongside First Minister, Humza Yousaf, the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership launched its new industry strategy, ‘Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World.’
Today, alongside First Minister, Humza Yousaf, the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership launched its new industry strategy, ‘Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World.’
Supported by £5 million of Scottish Government funding over the next year, the new strategy sets a 10-year ambition for the industry and provides a practical framework for achieving sustainable growth. Its ambition is to make Scotland the best place in the world to own, operate, and work for a food and drink business.
It was great to welcome so many members, colleagues and friends to the SAOS stand at the Royal Highland Show to launch the strategy – a fitting venue to unveil our ambition for the industry.
Collectively, our industry has been through the economic wringer in recent years. While it has undoubtedly been tough, it has highlighted issues we need to address to improve resilience, sustainability and margins in the sector.
By tackling critical supply chain issues, we can build a strong platform for sustainable growth for Scotland’s food and drink businesses.
‘Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World.’ is a collaborative strategy that draws on the experience and expertise of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership, Government and the more than 150 businesses consulted. We welcome the Scottish Government’s continued financial support of the sector with the £5 million committed by the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, this morning.
The strategy recognises the challenges we face, but it’s also a positive and ambitious statement of intent for the future of the industry.
Our food and drink sector is a major economic contributor, so having a unifying strategy to drive forward a positive vision for the industry is essential. We have the opportunity to cement ourselves as a world leader in sustainability. That’s sustainability in the widest possible sense – environmental impacts, societal fairness, and economically sustainable.
But a strategy is only effective if the machinery is in place to ensure it is actioned, which is why we’re also publishing a delivery plan detailing the steps we will take to solidify our foundations, and seize the £4bn market opportunity available to us.
Collaboration has been at the heart of developing the strategy, and it will be at the heart of delivering it too. As the old adage goes: if you want to go quickly, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.
Read the full strategy here:
