Creating the conditions for success in Scotland’s food and drink sector: a review of how the Scottish policy and delivery landscape supports sustainable growth

Description

2.	The food and drink industry in Scotland is widely regarded as a success story. Since the formation of the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership in 2007, industry turnover has increased to 15.0 billion in 2019 (up 26% on 2009) . Overseas exports of food and drink were worth a record 6.7 billion in 2019 - an increase of 62% since 2009. The Scottish Government supports the core work the Partnership in delivering Ambition 2030 – the industry-led strategy to double sectoral turnover to 30 billion by 2030. Since 2020, the Food and Drink Industry Recovery Plan has served as the main vehicle through which funding is translated into action.
3.	Other SG programmes which support the growth of the food and drink industry include the Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation (FPMC) grant scheme; funding the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership (including Scotland Food & Drink itself and the sectoral Recovery Plan); the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership Export Plan; Food for Life; development of a new local food strategy; support for the Scottish Grocers Federation’s Go Local and Healthy Living programmes, and development work with discrete sectors (such as whisky, seafood, dairy, and beef) . Food and drink businesses also access services through other public bodies such as the enterprise agencies and Skills Development Scotland. Some sectors are further supported by levies raised from industry (particularly red meat, dairy, cereals, and sea fish).
4.	The 2021 SNP manifesto committed to “create a single independent Scottish Food agency to promote food, drink and horticulture, attract investment, help increase processing capacity and improve supply chains and infrastructure” . This could represent a major overhaul of how support to the food and drink industry in Scotland, replacing or bringing together the wide variety of support that is currently delivered by a range of organisations across the public and private sectors.
5.	While recent growth in turnover and exports indicates that existing support mechanisms and the policy environment are not inhibitors to growth, the industry – in common with the wider Scottish economy – has been challenged by the twin impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic, with impacts being further compounded in 2022 by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the energy price crisis. SG has also this year launched a new 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) which aims to redesign our economy based on the principles of equality, sustainability, prosperity and resilience. The food and drink sector has a role to play in delivering the ambition set out within that Strategy and will in turn be shaped by the policy programmes it contains.
6.	It is therefore a timely point to evaluate how support is delivered and implement improvements to ensure that public funding can achieve maximum positive impact. Creation of a new agency could also present an opportunity to ensure that our ambitions for the food and drink sector can be achieved in line with other key SG priorities, such as delivering the NSET, realising our vision for a Good Food Nation, meeting our national dietary goals and ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change.