Frank O'Donnell: Scotland has ambitions worth savouring

Food and drink is an industry with great potential.
Food & Drink 2017: How do we make the most of Scotland's rich harvest?Food & Drink 2017: How do we make the most of Scotland's rich harvest?
Food & Drink 2017: How do we make the most of Scotland's rich harvest?

Scotland’s food and drink sector is in an exciting period of growth. It is an industry characterised by a mix of global giants, iconic brands and micro-businesses and it is encouraging to see both established companies and start-ups embracing the opportunities available to them.

There are barriers of course, particularly for new businesses trying to make their way in what is an increasingly competitive arena, but Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Ambition 2030 strategy is hungry to see those producers, manufacturers and processors succeed, and by all accounts there is room for everyone around the table.

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The Scotsman has always covered agriculture – our early coverage included the first Royal Highland Show in 1822, held on the site of what is now the Scottish Parliament – and the hard work of these primary producers should not be overshadowed by glossy labels and catchy slogans.

This newspaper has also championed food and drink over the years, publishing recipes, recommendations and restaurant reviews in the Scotsman Magazine and online, too, since the launch of our dedicated website foodanddrink.scotsman.com in 2015.

Our business pages and supplements have celebrated the successes of Scotland’s entrepreneurs from new microbreweries to award-winning craft gins and expanding chains of eateries.

As a nation we pride ourselves on innovation and the £14 billion food and drink sector is no exception. It is fascinating to see the results coming out of labs and research facilities up and down the country, where teams are working on ways to cultivate produce on a larger, more reliable scale, and refine flavours to match the changing tastes of consumers.

The Scotsman will continue to fly the flag for food and drink at our next conference and with the launch of the Scotland Food & Drink Show at Ingliston in October. Over the next weeks – as we celebrate Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight – we will be speaking to the people who work in the sector through articles and digital content.

Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Ambition 2030 strategy identifies three pillars on which the industry can build further growth: skills and people, supply chain and innovation.

These pillars also form the foundations of this supplement and we have gathered the thoughts of leaders in the industry about how they can contribute to growth.

As James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, points out collaboration is the key ingredient to achieving the goal of Ambition 2030, and we have asked our partners to use their expertise to share their insights on the sector.

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Seafood Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland and the Scotch Whisky Association, all illustrate how important having a quality product in the first place is.

With Ambition 2030’s heavy emphasis on innovation and finding creative new ways to grow markets, legal heavyweights Brodies and Murgitroyd look at the importance of protecting your brand – and have some valuable tips about how to do it.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government’s Make Innovation Happen initiative offers practical support for businesses wanting to push barriers in order to grow.

The future looks bright and although Ambition 2030 is, as it states in the name, hugely ambitious, everyone is on board at all levels and with the right amount of collaboration, achieving the target of doubling turnover in the industry to £30bn by 2030 might just be within our reach.

Frank O’Donnell is editorial director of The Scotsman.