Scottish food and drink firms taste export success at major European event

A cohort of Scottish food and drink businesses hungry for international sales has attended an export fair in Germany to secure new customers.

Andy Murray, founder of Edinburghs The Drinks Bakery. Picture: Contributed

The Anuga food and drink trade fair in Cologne hosted 19 producers from Scotland earlier this month, among 7,400 exhibitors from more than 100 countries. An estimated 165,000 trade visitors attended the event, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

The Scottish cohort, which included Ashers Bakery, Coco Chocolatier and Glasgow ­Distillery, has been supported by the UK government-backed Food is Great campaign, an initiative to showcase UK food and drink overseas.

The companies have also been introduced to potential buyers via field specialists from Germany, Canada, and China, through Scottish Development International.

Around 7,400 exhibitors from more than 100 countries featured at the Anuga food and drink event. Picture: Koelnmesse

Edinburgh firm The Drinks Bakery, which creates savoury biscuits that are flavour-profiled to accompany various alcoholic drinks, was among the Scottish group.

The business is aiming to grow exports to 40 per cent of overall revenue by 2020, up from 15 per cent currently.

Founder Andy Murray said: “We were able to meet potential buyers and create a network of connections, which is going to help boost our exporting activity.”

It has been calculated that food and drink exports for Scotland exceeded £6.1 billion in the year to June, a 5 per cent year-on-year jump.