Without being confident about our reputation
for having some of the best produce in the world and relaying that
key message both at home and overseas, Scotland cannot expect to
achieve its ambition to become known as 'A Land of Food and Drink'.
A positive reputation is central to our growth and we must tell the
world about our produce and brands.
We know we can do this passionately. But we must also get our
message across to those we want to hear it in a structured and
focused way. Our reputation strategy will concentrate on markets
within Scotland, across the UK and internationally - as well as the
burgeoning food tourism opportunity right here at home.
Scotland Food & Drink has already embarked on the first
stages of this new strategy by encouraging companies to identify
and exploit markets outwith Scotland: this includes the rest of the
UK, Europe and other overseas markets. A new market development
strategy -
Access to Markets - is also
being developed to help us define opportunities in export and
international markets as well as build upon and refine our existing
UK market development programme.
Building the reputation of our industry and building the
capabilities of our companies to trade with key trade customers can
impact positively on our image as an industry and as a nation. This
means exploiting Scottish, UK and international opportunities and,
as a first step, we have already successfully introduced Scotland
Food & Drink branding to our industry events and exhibitions,
creating a high-profile presence and increasing awareness of our
vision for the industry.
To build our reputation and deliver economic growth, we are
focusing initially on encouraging Scottish companies to
explore markets outside Scotland - the rest of the UK, Europe
and other international markets. With the closure of Food From
Britain in spring 2009 there is an opportunity for Scotland Food
& Drink to deliver services for companies within Scotland which
want to begin exporting or which want to expand their existing
export business.
To enhance our Positive Reputation, we are focusing on two key
initiatives:
- Market Penetration
- Access to Markets Programme
Market
Penetration: This means exploiting Scottish, UK and
international opportunities. As a first step we have already
successfully introduced Scotland Food & Drink branding to our
industry events and exhibitions, creating a high-profile presence
and increasing awareness of our vision for the industry.
Access to Markets: Our
Access to Markets Programme is a three-year strategy focusing on
two main areas: Growing the Capability of Businesses and Growing
Relationships. This includes a broad-ranging series of activities -
created in conjunction with our stakeholders and partners - with
activities interlinked and designed to provide relevant
information, training and opportunities to help Scottish food and
drink businesses develop and grow their sales.
Scotland
Food & Drink Excellence Awards: this long-established
annual competition allows companies to gain recognition for their
commitment and passion to the products they produce and
manufacture.
The 2010 Excellence Awards will be launched in January 2010 and
details will be posted on the website then. We encourage companies
to apply in order to boost awareness and sales of their product and
gain valuable recognition.
Other priorities include:
- Defining the provenance of products from Scotland and
developing an industry-wide plan for communicating this.
- Working with VisitScotland we will explore how we can develop
the food and drink experience for visitors to Scotland.
- Developing plans to communicate and educate consumers and
children about the Scottish food and drink industry.