Growth industry

• Bernard Alessi of Simple Simon will be among the exhibitors.

Two inches tall and a bright green colour – rather than the vivid yellow that is a familiar sight in fields across the country in early summer – the crop reflects the ambitions of Mark Bush, a former IT consultant who, along with his Scottish wife Maggie, moved to Madderty nearly three years ago from London in order to become part of Scotland's burgeoning speciality food market, making rapeseed oil.

"I started the business 18 months ago, producing the oil on my parents-in-law's farm, and we've just gone from strength to strength," says Bush. "In 2008 we exceeded our projections for the year by 10 per cent which we were very happy with in a recession. Last year we continued to grow so that going into 2010 we're now looking to expand our range of products. It's been just fantastic."

Bush's story is not atypical. Despite an economic recession that has broken the back of a number of businesses across the board, not to mention clipping the wings of large food conglomerates (witness, for example, Cadbury's takeover this week by US group Kraft), the independent food market in Scotland is still growing.

Mark Saunders, co-organiser of the Scotland Speciality Food Show, which kicks off at the SECC tomorrow, believes that despite the wider economic gloom, sales of fine food in Scotland have actually increased in the past year.

"We have canvassed many top Scottish retailers and most have had an excellent 2009," he says. "People are more likely now to buy a jar of chutney or some smoked salmon or something like that because as a treat it's not a hugely expensive item – you don't have to think too hard about it, in the way you would if you were buying a new car or a TV. Over the last 18 months we've also seen that people will buy a decent piece of steak to eat at home rather than having the expense of going out to eat at a restaurant."

Part of the boost is down to an expansion in the number of retailers across Scotland choosing to sell speciality food products, from large complexes with food halls such as the well-established House of Bruar near Blair Atholl, all the way down to tiny independent farm shops that can be found an intrepid half-mile down a dirt track.

"Over the past couple of years, more and more gift shops selling food products, delicatessens and farm shops have opened up, all of which are selling food," says Saunders. "That's particularly true of retailers further away from the central belt who are broadening their retail horizons."

Mains of Taymouth in Kenmore in Perthshire is a classic example. With a delicatessen selling local food products, as well as a non-food retail area, a caf and bar, it has seen business bloom over the course of 2009, perhaps partly due to the "staycation" phenomenon, which saw many Scots take a holiday at home rather than rush to book a flight abroad.

"Our sales increased by 20 per cent last year, with food items driving the business," says Marion Murdoch of the Taymouth Courtyard Shop.

"We source as much Scottish and local produce as possible and this has proved particularly popular with tourists, who have been here in their droves last year. We are seeing a definite rise in the quality of food purchased too."

In fact, some shops at the smaller end of the market have been so impressed by the level of interest that they've started producing their own items. Sue Montgomery of Ardardan Farm Shop, part of the Ardardan Estate near Helensburgh, in Argyll, is one example. Originally a farm, Montgomery and her family have diversified Ardardan so that it now has a shop selling farm-made products, a walled nursery garden, and a tearoom.

"In response to customer demand we have started producing our own foods, such as Highland beef and ice cream," she says. "They've proved a huge hit with customers. This past year we have seen a great demand for good raw ingredients and there is a definite trend for quality food away from mass market fast food."

There is also a sense both among retailers and producers that Scots are keen to support local companies making homegrown products – something that appears to become even more pronounced during an economic downturn.

"There has been a greater return to people sourcing their food locally," says Saunders. "I think that's partly down to the number of foods you see in the supermarket. People think, 'Should I really be buying green beans from Kenya that are way out of season in this country?' Obviously there are arguments for and against it, but there has been a greater awareness among people that perhaps they should be buying food that is more locally produced and also food that is fresher, that hasn't travelled so far."

Certainly, a lot of independent producers talk about a wealth of local support for their products. Ian Rennie, along with business partner Peter Stuart, runs Thistly Cross Cider, a Scottish cider that is matured for six months on a farm outside Dunbar. They have been in business for a year, and just the other day, Rennie received a text message from a bar in Edinburgh that stocks Thistly Cross.

"They told us our cider was outselling Magners Irish Cider ten to one," he says. "It's because we make a cider that tastes nice, and because it's a Scottish cider."

Rennie says they have had a huge amount of local support. "People in the local area have been fantastic, and I think that's partly a Scottish thing – they're keen to support their own."

Bush agrees. "When I started working on my father-in-law's farm I started going to farmers' markets and that really opened my eyes to the depth of interest in local produce. That was one of the reasons why we into producing Summer Harvest Oils, because we could see it was a massive growing trend and there was a passion for local produce."

Saunders says that passion is vital for anyone looking to start their own independent food company. "Passion is a very important word in this industry because small producers are fuelled by passion," he says. "Typically what you'll get is perhaps a traditional dairy farm and someone within the family with passion and enthusiasm who will say, 'Let's try and make an ice cream or a cheese or a yoghurt', and that's where a lot of the success stories come from – it's the initiative to try something different."

Despite local support however, Rennie says one of the most difficult things about running a cider business has been making people aware that they exist at all. "The cider is selling very well, our problem is not enough people know about it," he says. "Everyone who tries it wants to buy it, it's just getting people to try it. At the moment we only sell around Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Borders."

This is where the Speciality Food Show steps in, allowing retailers and producers to meet, try out the wares, and look at stocking the products across the country. Now in its second year, and organised in part by the Guild of Fine Foods, it attracts a wide range of producers from all over Scotland – around 120 this year, from Cream Cutie (a chocolate and orange cream liqueur produced in Dalbeattie that was once rejected on Dragon's Den), to Simple Simon's Perfect Pies, a pie and casserole company based near Biggar.

So what does 2010 hold for Scotland's independent food producers? "I think the market will maintain its position," says Saunders. "The fundamentals will stay the same – now people have discovered locally sourced produce they're unlikely to go back. And there will be other new companies coming through and wanting to get into the market too."

For Bush and his sleeping crop of rapeseed, the future is as bright as the flowers it will eventually produce. "The brand is trusted in the retail world now, and we're working on a range of infused oils and a dressing," he says. "People are always surprised when they hear of what we're doing, but once they try it, well, we always get a good reaction."

For more information on the Scotland Speciality Food Show, which starts tomorrow at the SECC Glasgow, log on to www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

A TASTE OF SOMETHING LOCAL

Mark Bush's beetroot & chocolate cake

Ingredients

150ml/quarter of a pint of Summer Harvest rapeseed oil

250g/8oz caster sugar

3 eggs

250g of cooked beetroot, pured

pinch of salt

175g/6oz plain flour, sieved

2 tsp baking powder

50g/1.5oz cocoa powder (or use drinking chocolate), sieved

Method

Cook the beetroot by either boiling with the skin on or roasting with the skin removed. If you have boiled the beetroot, remove the skin. Blitz in a food processor to puree.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a large loaf tin (you could also spilt the mixture between two smaller loaf tins).

In a large bowl, mix the caster sugar and rapeseed oil. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well before the next egg is added.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into the mixture, add the beetroot pure and salt and mix well.

Cook for 45 to 50 minutes. When cooked, the loaf should spring up after being pressed down.

• Recipe from www.summerharvestoils.co.uk