Scottish Food Producers Awarded Funding to Make Recipes Healthier

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland’s Reformulation for Health Programme has announced that 14 food and drink businesses across Scotland will receive funding to help make their food healthier.

Some of Scotland’s best-loved food and drink manufacturers are among the recipients, including Nairn’s Oatcakes, Rowan Glen, Bells Food Group, Simon Howie, and International Fish Canners. Local producers such as Bistrose, Nalan’s Homefood, and oat-based miso manufacturer Slow Sauce have also been successful. Scotland’s bakery and butchery sectors are well represented, with exciting reformulation projects from Luscious Lovelies Cakes, the Premium Bakery, Saltire Patisserie, Coopers Butchers, David Cox Butchers, and George Cockburn & Son.

Each business will receive up to £5,000 to kick-start a range of projects focused on positive nutritional changes. These include bakeries reformulating the sugar content in Scottish favourites such as doughnuts, empire biscuits, and celebration cakes, as well as innovative projects from butchers aiming to reduce salt, fat, and calories in popular products like sausages, burgers, and even haggis.

This fifth round of FDF Scotland’s Reformul8 Challenge Fund was made possible due to funding received from Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and Scotland Food & Drink.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “This fund has improved diets by removing hundreds of millions of calories from food and drink over recent years and I am encouraged by these latest innovative proposals.

“Addressing the problem of obesity, helping people eat well and maintain a healthy weight is a public health priority.

“We are taking wide-ranging action to support people to make healthier food choices, recognising the contribution which poor diet makes to worsening health trends.”

Joanne Burns, FDF Scotland’s Reformulation for Health Manager, said: "I am delighted to provide 14 of Scotland iconic food and drink businesses with funding to make their popular food and drinks healthier.

“We are looking forward to supporting these projects and sharing their achievements soon.

“Some businesses are looking to improve their Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) score to meet non-HFSS (high in fat, sugar or salt) criteria, achieve salt reduction targets or address retailer and consumer demand for healthier products.”

“We are working with Scotland’s food and drink producers helping to improve the health of Scotland’s people one product at a time!”

Laura Wilson, Head of Public Health Nutrition at FSS, said: "Ensuring everyone has access to healthier, more affordable food has never been more vital to improving public health. To achieve that, we need to focus on improving the food environment that surrounds us and shapes what we eat. That’s why FSS is proud to support the Reformulation for Health Programme to provide direct support to industry to help make that happen.” 

Joe Hind, Head of Programmes & Policy for Scotland Food & Drink, said: “It’s great to see such a fantastic range of businesses, both small and large, receiving support from the Reformul8 Challenge Fund. With the new regulations around the promotion of food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) coming into effect in Scotland by the end of next year, each business now has the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve, making proactive, positive nutritional changes. Congratulations to all the businesses involved – we’re looking forward to seeing the results of such exciting and innovative projects.”

If food and drink businesses are interested in finding out more about how FDF Scotland can support you with recipe reformulation please email reformulation@fdfscotland.org.uk. 

The full list of food and drink businesses that received funding from the fifth round of the Reformul8 Challenge Fund:

• Bells Food Group
• Bistrose
• Cooper Quality Butchers
• David Cox Butchers
• George Cockburn & Son
• International Fish Canners (Scotland)
• Luscious Lovelies Cakes
• Nairn’s Oatcakes
• Nalan’s Homefood
• The Premium Bakery
• Rowan Glen
• Saltire Patisserie
• Simon Howie Foods
• Slow Sauce (Sherriff & Hope)