Why Scotland is the land of plenty for indie retailers

Rugged landscapes, awe-inspiring views and hearty fare; Scotland has a lot going for it, not least its fantastic array of food and drink. While its traditional fare is revered around the world – Scotland’s whisky exports are estimated to currently stand at £3.8 billion – that’s not to say that the country’s producers are stuck in the past. On the contrary, its food and drink makers are combining heritage with innovation in a truly unique way, making Scottish produce one of the best investments independents across the UK can make for their shelf space.

Food plays a vital role in the country’s domestic and tourism market. According to research from VisitScotland, 20% of visitors’ expenditure (pre-pandemic) was spent on food and drink – a contribution of around £1 billion to the Scottish economy. And according to James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, it is the country’s natural attributes that make it a powerhouse of great quality produce. “Scotland is increasingly renowned globally as a land of food and drink,” he says.

“We’re blessed with a strong agricultural tradition and one of the longest coastlines in Europe, all fertile ground for producing some of the best quality products and ingredients.” While there are a handful of food and drink products for which Scotland is most famed – think whisky, smoked salmon and shortbread – they’re far from the whole menu. “We are fortunate that for a relatively small country we have an incredible diversity of products,” he says.

“Alongside a rich tradition of farming, fishing, food and drink production there is an increasing amount of innovation too as producers aim to lead the way on the big trends, not least sustainability and health-enhancing foods.” This sustainability-minded approach should reap rewards for Scotland over the coming years, with Scottish companies “leading the way” in climate-friendly food production.

The tourist pound

Brand Scotland is internationally revered, having “strengthened hugely over the last decade, both overseas and within our own shores and has become synonymous with excellence and high quality produce,” according to James. VisitScotland states that two thirds of Scotland’s visitors think quality food is an important factor when deciding where to go on holiday and are prepared to pay up to 15% more for produce of Scottish or regional origin.

Chris Greenwood, VisitScotland’s senior tourism insight manager, told Speciality Food, “Scotland’s food and drink has long been a jewel in our tourism crown, and our coasts and waters play a key role in shaping the country’s incredible larder. Our Themed Year – the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21 has encouraged visitors to dive into the amazing food and drinks experiences on offer and celebrate them through exciting virtual and now in-person events. And the journey of Scottish food and drink will also be highlighted in the next Themed Year – the Year of Stories 2022.”

The role of food-loving consumers and retailers in supporting the food and drink sector is more apparent now than ever. “There has never been a more important time to support local food and drink producers and businesses – to support traditional skills and food heritage, lessen the food miles, and help boost the economies of the local communities in which these businesses are based,” says Chris. “In the wake of Covid-19, it is important that people support local businesses, and Scotland is ready to welcome visitors, serving stunning scenery, mouth-watering food and drink or a totally new experience.”

“Like so many other industries, Scotland’s food and drink sector is still in the process of recovering from Covid and adapting to enormous challenges brought about Brexit,” says Scotland Food & Drink’s James. Thankfully, help is at hand: “Fortunately, we have industry and government working hand in hand through the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership with a recovery plan delivering a whole suite of business support and market development measures.” The best is yet to come, says James: “I genuinely think we’ll bounce back stronger than ever.”

For Rosie Jack, manager of Bowhouse in Fife, Scottish produce – with a local focus – is the heart and soul of the work she does. “Our focus has been on strengthening the local food market,” she explains, “creating an environment where raw ingredients from the surrounding fields and coast is transformed into something exceptional and made available locally.”

Supporting local supply chains and small businesses is key to Bowhouse, and “to supporting a vibrant community in this area,” says Rosie. There are a number of exceptional producers based at Bowhouse which have increased its visibility to the wider fine food industry – and food-loving consumers – across the UK. These products, from organic brewer Futtle to BBC Food & Farming Award-winning flour producer, Scotland the Bread. The site also hosts monthly Market Weekends, welcoming visitors from near and far to sample the wares of the best independent producers from across Fife and Scotland.

A valuable landscape to respect

The breathtaking landscapes of Scotland certainly have international appeal and feed directly into the country’s reputation for fine food and drink, and for a lot of the country’s food producers it’s vital that they maintain the sanctity of the land. “Scotland has a global reputation for producing top-quality produce in a pristine natural environment,” says Rosie.

“Certainly here at Bowhouse our focus is on supporting regenerative agriculture and farming organically. We’re surrounded by productive coast and farmland and, when we look after it in this way, the variety of food and drink we’re able to produce here is vast. The business we work with are selected because they’re working with the kind of ethos that supports this.”

As well as working hard to maintain the environmental landscape, the team at Bowhouse aims to strengthen supply chain ecosystems across the sector. “From the outset, the concept of Bowhouse was devised in response to a gap in supply chains. We aim to create a habitat for food and drink makers here at Bowhouse that encourages them to create exceptional produce using local ingredients, and this in turn supports a wider food and drink landscape and stronger local sourcing here.

“This has brought a number of producers to the fore who wouldn’t otherwise have found a place in established supply chains,” she continues. The business’s monthly market weekends play a role, and have helped to pique consumer interest and allow for what Rosie describes as “an open, transparent approach to producing something delicious with integrity, which is really what people want. The regular rhythm of the producers based here at Bowhouse connects the local community to the produce and the markets showcase the wider Scottish scene.”

This sustainable approach is shared by Arbikie Distillery, launched on the Arbikie Highland Estate in November 2014 with a focus on field-to-bottle distilling. The Stirling family have been farming for over 400 years and the brothers are the latest custodians of their family lands with their focus on building a long-term, legacy business.

“Arbikie grows, distils, matures and bottles its family of sustainable spirits at Lunan Bay on Scotland’ sunny east coast,” explains Iain Stirling, director. “Sustainability is at the core of the business – for every decision made, Arbikie always considers the environmental impact and how they can do better, with their distilling from start to finish using negligible miles for its production,” he continues.

Within the Arbikie Distillery range of gins, vodkas and whiskies is their world-first climate positive spirit, Nàdar, distilled from peas which removes the need for artificial fertiliser use, resulting in a carbon saving of >1.53kg per bottle. “This innovation also creates the opportunity for gin brands to consider buying pea-based instead of wheat-based white spirit with a vastly reduced environmental impact,” explains Iain.

Arbikie grows all that it needs to distil, including chillies, lemongrass, juniper and limes, as well as the traditional farm crops of barley, peas, potatoes and wheat. The business’s sustainable mission doesn’t end there. “Our latest projects include intercropping, growing peas and barley together in the same field, and growing heritage barleys with a focus on flavour, rather than yield,” says Iain.

“It is this collaboration and innovation that makes Arbikie stand out – challenging norms and pushing the boundaries, leading to revolutionary and exciting new products.” Scotland’s distilling heritage is incredibly important to Arbikie and reviving the distilling of Rye Scotch Whisky, which was grown in Scotland over 200 years ago, illustrates how heritage and innovation can be combined.

“There was a distillery at Arbikie in 1794, so the Arbikie Estate has a rich heritage of growing and distilling,” says Iain. “Being a young distillery, Arbikie has the opportunity to build on the centuries of distilling expertise in Scotland by returning to a focus on growing and on being sustainable as was the tradition on farms across Scotland.” Arbikie recently announced that it is planning to power its distillery with Green Hydrogen, combining wind and solar power and also focusing on removing single-use glass bottles from its supply chain. 

History as inspiration

Arkibie is just one of an exciting new generation of distillers who are looking to complement this history with an invigorating blend of innovation and experimentation. “HMRC have become a lot more open to smaller producers and this has opened the market up distilleries like ourselves,” explains Peter Dignan, co-founder of Lost Loch Spirits. “I think this has been the biggest change for hundreds of years and it has transformed the spirits industry in Scotland. Looking at the history of spirits and their production is a massive part of what Lost Loch stands for.” Indeed, the business’s ethos is: “To be inventive in our thinking, to look at history for inspiration and to produce a range of unique spirits using the very best local ingredients.” A boon for spirit lovers across borders, certainly, as is the business’s range which spans Scotland’s first absinthe, Haroosh (a whisky liqueur) and eeNoo gin. Lost Loch Spirits’ inventive streak runs throughout the company.

“We get some very interesting requests from customers and we are always designing new ways of production and new ways of imparting flavours into what we produce,” Peter explains. “With our own brands we also like to do things a little differently and that’s why we produced Scotland’s first absinthe.

“We have since aged absinthe in a whisky cask and this was released under our Singular Series range. We launched the Singular Series range so we could get our experiments to market. Another release under the Singular Series was Rucolino, this was based on the recipe of an Italian liqueur that we found in an old book.” Innovation and sustainability abound; the future of Scotland’s food and drink scene is here.