Stephen Jardine: Safeguarding jobs and the environment by buying local produce at its freshest

They are the unsung heroes of Scottish food and drink. Without them, there is nothing. While the big brands grab all the attention, small producers form the backbone of the business but rarely get to stand centre-stage.

Today will be different, as companies from across Scotland get to showcase their produce and meet the public in Edinburgh city centre.

Organised to coincide with Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight, the event is a “thank you” to the 70 artisan producers who supply The Scottish Café and Restaurant at The Mound. They include cheesemakers like Humphrey Errington, East Lothian-based Phantassie Organics and Scotherbs, who 25 years ago spotted the way cooking was changing and started growing leaves and salads in response. Scottish Café and Restaurant owner Carina Contini cuts out the middlemen and buys directly from these suppliers to ensure the restaurant gets the best quality ingredients and the producers get the prices they need. “It’s a lot of work, but we want to make the commitment because we believe in them – they improve the quality of life for us all,” Carina told me. The aim of today’s event is to allow the public to interact directly with the people who grow, raise and supply the food served in the restaurant. “It’s a privilege to be able to do this,” says Carina. “We want to get back to the roots of where food comes from, to connect producers with consumers in a way that has been lost with the spread of the retail giants.”

As I type this, an e-mail has just popped up in the corner of the screen from Tesco. Apparently British Food Fortnight starts this weekend and to mark the occasion, Tesco are offering three for two on all organic produce. I’m not sure that will be such a cause for celebration for the British farmers. Dealing with the big retailers on reasonable terms is one of the biggest challengers facing small suppliers who have great produce but no muscle.

Summer Harvest rapeseed oil will be part of today’s celebration at the Mound. The Scottish Café and Restaurant is one of the biggest customers for the Perthshire firm’s cold-pressed product. Three years into business, managing director Mark Bush believes events like this are well-timed: “There is a movement in Scotland at the moment – people want to know where their food comes from – they are really interested and ask lots of questions.” Summer Harvest already supplies to Waitrose, but Mark is determined to expand with caution. “There is a pressure to get into mass multiples and an assumption that you have to become huge to be successful. We don’t, we just want to keep our integrity and the quality of our product,” says Mark.

For the company, expansion has meant developing linked products like dressings and marinades rather than piling the core product high on the supermarket shelves. Supermarkets don’t have to be the only answer for smaller producers. Last year Carina Contini’s restaurant businesses used more than 100,000 free-range Scottish eggs and 4,000 kilos of Isle of Mull cheddar.

These kinds of quantities are enough to make a business and both sides in the relationship end up happy. “By buying direct we develop a very strong relationship with the producer, we understand the seasonality of the product better, we are also able to ensure a fairer price and better payment terms than many distributors. As a substantial buyer we could make different choices that make more money, but that’s not what life is all about,” says Carina.

Supporting local produce cuts wasteful food miles and safeguards Scottish jobs and it tastes better, too. Try it this weekend.