'Mountain food' plan to benefit Highlands

FOOD produced in the Highlands could in future have its own brand under plans from Europe to give special protection to goods from mountain regions.

•: Rory Stone of Highland Fine Cheeses offers his produce to an employee. The word 'Highland' could become a protected brand under a new scheme based on the Swiss model

If approved, a label identifying quality Highland produce could work in the same way as "organic" or "free range" to give businesses an extra marketing advantage.

Euromontana, a non-governmental organisation that lobbies for sustainable agriculture in mountain areas, says that farmers and crofters would be able to charge a premium for products.

The group says products from mountain areas are perceived to be smaller-scale, more traditional and more environmentally friendly.

The concept of "mountain foods" already operates in Switzerland, and to a lesser extent in Italy and France, but so far there has been little appetite for the idea in Scotland, where it is felt the term "Highland" would be more marketable.

Marie Guitton, Euromontana's project manager, said discussions have taken place at a European level on whether an optional "mountain" reserved term should be established.

She said: "A mountain reserved term... would help bring more added value to mountain regions by segmenting the market and helping consumers better identify food from mountain regions."

Guitton said it could help maintain production and processing units in mountain areas: "Maintaining activities is in some mountain areas a huge challenge, and supporting agricultural production and its processing can have a real positive impact locally and on regional development."

Dr Rob McMorran, a research associate at the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College, part of the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands, said the argument for a mountain label is that producers in these areas deliver environmental and biodiversity benefits but without any extra reward.

"At the moment anyone can use a mountain brand and label image across Europe and there is no requirement to stop them doing it. So they can use a mountain image on a product such as 'mountain chocolate' even if it's been made in a factory in a city in a lowland area."

He said the new move, if it were to go ahead, could be a sort of 'soft' policy which would not have a legal basis but would be an agreement at a European level which producers could sign up to on a voluntary basis. However, it could be the first step towards a more concrete policy.

McMorran said the proposals would be unlikely to result in existing products with "Highland" in their title which are not produced in mountainous areas being outlawed. Instead, mountain goods could carry some sort of additional symbol to identify them as a genuine "quality mountain product".

"I would say there is a bit of an issue as people coming to Scotland probably do associate the term Highland with a scenic area of high environmental quality. In some instances products are branded as from the Highlands when in fact this is not the case, so they are piggy-backing on a positive association which is not technically true for those products.

"In future, if new guidelines come in, it may be difficult for such a company to set up, but that's not really the main aim of the proposals. In my opinion Euromontana is not trying to put the shackles on companies using the mountain term or image who are not based in mountain areas.

"Fundamentally it is more about trying to reward farmers in mountain areas for the wider social and environmental benefits associated with their activities by distinguishing the products they produce on the market place. It may be they could use a star on the label to show it is definitely from a mountain area and give it that extra cachet."

He said the new label could complement a "crofting brand" used to sell produce from crofters in the Highlands and Islands.

Patrick Krause, chief executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation, said: "The Scottish Crofting Produce Mark has a close affinity with Euromontana and the mountain label and we share the philosophy that these less-favoured areas produce food that is significantly superior to ‘mainstream' food.

"There is a growing tide of consumers that want and demand something better, something that the marginalised areas can provide."