Scotland’s Speciality Food Show’s first post-Covid event a success

Usually hosted in January, the 2022 edition of Scotland’s Speciality Food Show opened at the end of March with a huge number of local exhibitors showcasing their brands. 

However, visitor attendance was down on previous years, primarily due to the high rate of Covid infection in Scotland, the postponement of the show from January to March, and the clash with Mother’s Day.

In spite of a lower-than-usual attendance for the show’s grand return, show director Mark Saunders was pleased with how the show panned out and thanked everyone for attending. “Despite numerous challenges we were delighted to be able to host Scotland’s Speciality Food Show once again. A lower attendance was expected but we were pleased that the buyers who attended were all ordering confidently for the year ahead even if the economic outlook remains challenging.”

The Best Product Awards were judged on the opening morning of the show by food experts Hilary Anderson from The Allarburn Farm Shop in Elgin, Nick Moriarty from the Blair Drummond Smiddy Farm Shop, Gavin Warnock from The Bay Leaf Deli in Orkney, and Peter McKenna from the Gannet restaurant in Glasgow.

Being back at an in-person show was widely welcomed by visitors as they could see and taste the products and connect with the suppliers in person. This is something judge Hilary Anderson particularly valued, as she enthused, “I’ve come away from the show with some exciting new Scottish products. You can’t underestimate the benefit of meeting face to face and sampling products to give you confidence in any new product before stocking. I’m very excited about the new items I have coming in and have more than I anticipated but full credit to the event for having such a good mix of producers.”

Bringing innovation, quality and taste, the winners of the awards included The Chocolate Tree, The Spice Witch, Left Field Kombucha and The Buffalo Farm. 

Speaking about how the event went, Alastair Gower from The Chocolate Tree from East Lothian said, “We have had a very busy show, helped by the fact we won Best Product Award for our chocolate almonds. This show has enabled us to meet the right buyers, with many orders from small independent shops.”

The next Scotland’s Speciality Food Show will be held 22nd-24th January.