Minister urges stronger links in Scotland's food supply chain

SCOTLAND'S food minister outlined his vision for a successful industry yesterday as organisers of the Royal Highland Show he was visiting homed in on a "buy local, eat local" theme.

Instancing recent successful efforts by Scotland's meat trade, under the Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) promotion agency's banner, to rebuild a beef export market, Ross Finnie - also minister for environment and rural development - said: "Quality Meat Scotland demonstrates what can be achieved if all parts of the food chain work together."

Securing £1 million worth of beef export sales within weeks of the market reopening, after being closed for a decade by European Union anti-BSE rules, was "a fantastic start", he said.

Although everyone recognised enormous efforts would be necessary to regain a pre-ban market worth more than £120 million a year, it was also a success that showed the benefits of a single organisation helping co-ordinate production, processing and marketing.

Now, the minister told a QMS working breakfast on the first day of this year's show at Ingliston on the outskirts of Edinburgh, it was time to extend that approach.

Mr Finnie said: "As food minister I'm determined that we should do all we can to encourage strong links between our food and agricultural industries."

Scotland's red meat industry - beef, lamb and pork - was worth £690 million at wholesale prices last year, with beef contributing about two thirds of that. QMS, a devolved organisation, has a £5 million annual budget.

Mr Finnie said his vision was for a Scottish organisation based on the QMS model, "creating products which harness market opportunities".

Clearly given a taste for extra work by his recent promotional work with QMS on a round of dinners in Europe's better-known restaurants in Monaco, Bologna and Paris, the minister said: "This is our opportunity to be upbeat and to showcase our wonderful industries - let's promote every aspect of our food."

That includes local appeal, said Lord Lindsay, this year's president of the show organisers, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, and head of the "buy local, eat local" campaign, centrepiece of the food hall at Ingliston.

All food and drink on the stand is from Fife, Perth and Kinross, much of it from regular standholders at farmers' markets in those counties, such as those at Perth, Cupar, St Andrews, Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline, and including meat, vegetables, dairy and bakery produce and eggs.

Lord Lindsay, a former Scottish minister of agriculture before devolution, said: "It's a recognition that too much food is flown into Britain from all over the world.

"We're saying let's return to local sourcing - it's good for producers, consumers and the planet, it improves traceablity and food safety and reduces the risk of bringing in exotic animal diseases."

Reducing food miles and carbon emissions was also, he said, a priority.

It was suggested to him, at an informal opening for the stand yesterday morning, that the theory was good but that the supermarkets that sell most of Britain's food and drink, importing huge tonnages to help do so, were unlikely to change.

Lord Lindsay said that was not necessarily true. "More and more supermarkets are recognising that consumers want seasonal local food," he said.

He went on: "I hope that everyone who visits this stand, if they were not convinced about 'buy local, eat local' before, will be by the time they leave."

Recent statistics from the National Farmers Retail Marketing Association indicate there is a long way to go.

There are now more than 500 farmers' markets in Britain - 55 of them in Scotland - about 3,500 farm shops, 1,000 pick-your-own fruit and vegetable businesses and 300 buy-a-box schemes.

But only about 10 per cent of consumers in the UK use them and in Scotland only 5 per cent have bought at farmers' markets.

NFU Scotland gave full backing to the "buy local" initiative, but emphasised that the main impact on farm production - particularly for perishable products such as vegetables, milk and potatoes - was the treatment of suppliers by supermarkets.

A leaflet being handed out at the show by union members depicted a sectioned milk bottle accompanied by the words: "Supermarkets charge 51p per litre The union also cited potatoes for the fish and chip trade now selling for £300 a tonne on the open market because "supplies are tight". But farmers with supply contracts to supermarkets were being restricted to £100 per tonne or less. This can work to the benefit of contracted farmers in a glut year, but John Kinnaird, NFU Scotland president, said: "We have watched profits of the biggest supermarkets reach record highs while too many farmers receive prices that don't cover cost of production."

With four million potential customers for home-grown produce in Scotland alone, there was all to play for, he said.

Supermarkets know that too. All the major players, including newcomer to Scotland Waitrose, are at Ingliston for four days battling for hearts, minds and credit cards.