Scottish food and drink businesses learn to maximise their retail strategy

More than 70 food and drink businesses from across Scotland gathered last week (Tuesday 17 September) to gain insights, knowledge and tools to improve their chances of success in selling to major retailers.

Organised in partnership between Scotland Food & Drink, The Knowledge Bank and The Academy, the Maximise Your Retail Strategy Event brought together a range of expert speakers from major market intelligence companies and from retailers themselves.

The UK’s food and drink market in 2024 is worth more than £274 billion, with retail accounting for more than 63%. IGD, a specialist market intelligence company providing insight and foresight in food and consumer goods, who spoke at the event, predicts that UK grocery retail market will grow by 18% by 2029, reaching £296bn.

That means there is a huge opportunity for Scottish businesses to grow their presence and value in the retail markets across the UK.

Attendees heard from IGD about the UK and Scottish supermarket and convenience sectors. Hearing from Commercial Manager, Graham McLean, Head of Insight, Rhian Thomas, and Insight Partner, Patrick Mitchell-Fox, attendees were given deep insights into the grocery space that they can use to inform and adapt their approaches to selling to retail buyers.

The insights shared in the morning sessions covered the changing UK retail landscape, the nuances of private label versus branded listings, what buyers are focusing on, and how consumers retail habits are changing.

The Knowledge Bank’s Anne-Laure Farrar and Kantar’s Lesley Ann Gray then hosted a session on the differences in Scottish retail and the importance of provenance for buyers both north and south of the border.

A series of break-outs were hosted with the keynote speakers for a deep dive into category specific insights and strategies for driving more retail sales.

James Lamont and Jill Sutherland from Tesco also joined the event, at the Royal Highland Pavilion, to discuss what they look for in buying decisions and how Scottish suppliers can successfully scale.

A new Commercial Excellence in Retail programme was launched on the day that aims to support businesses to build compelling selling propositions through insight, data and advisory support. To find out more, please contact The Academy.

Growing both the presence and value of Scottish food and drink products in the UK retail market is a key ambition of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s national strategy, Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World.

Carol Saunders, Head of Insights at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “It was fantastic to see so many ambitious businesses in the room, and to hear from some incredibly knowledgeable speakers. The insights shared will help food and drink businesses from across the country to shape their strategies to get more listings within the UK retail space.”

Find out more about future events here.

To find out more about insights, please visit The Knowledge Bank.

To find out more about training and capability building opportunities, please visit The Academy.

Click here to find out more about how Scotland Food & Drink is supporting businesses to grow.