Plan to grow global appetite for Scots produce

Preparations ahead of the 2015 Year of Food and Drink are already underway, with the promotion of Scotland’s high quality food and drink - including farmed salmon - in priority export markets.

The Scotland Food & Drink Export Plan was launched in March this year and now there are plans to harness the highly successful GlobalScot network to help build Scotland’s international reputation as a Land of Food and Drink. Outlining some of the proposals for the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as he addressed an audience of key food and drink companies at Scotland House, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment Richard Lochhead said: “GlobalScots help Scottish companies develop, expand and thrive in a competitive market, so who better to have on the ground promoting Scotland’s food and drink companies and the spectacular range of top quality products they produce. “We have set a new export target of achieving £7.1 billion by 2017 after smashing the previous £5.1 billion target six years early and latest figures show exports have grown by over 50 per cent from 2007 to 2013. “We know there is a huge global appetite for Scottish produce and fully utilising the successful GlobalScots network to promote the premium quality and provenance of our products will no doubt lead to great success in the priority export markets set out in the Export Plan I launched earlier this year. “So this is a hugely successful sector and I have no doubt that combining the success of the industry with the success of the GlobalScots network will get golden results for Scottish exports in the years to come. As we look ahead to the 2015 Year of Food and Drink I am looking forward to working closely with SDI, the SF&D partnership, Scots and Scots aficionados around the world to make this happen.”