SCOTTISH FOOD & DRINK FORTNIGHT GETS UNDERWAY

Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight gets underway. Scotland’s leading food and drink companies – including those in the seafood sector  –  will be participating in this year’s Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight (31 August and 15 September), which is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

This year, the Fortnight will showcase and support the companies, brands and people who are championing our country’s larder, enabling them to take advantage of the growing consumer demand for Scottish food and drink.

Celebrating a decade of championing the best the country has to offer, this year, the Fortnight will include events the length and breadth of the country including; Stranraer Oyster Festival, Spirit of Speyside, Foraging Fortnight, Jocktoberfest and Scotland Food & Drink’s AGM and conference.

The collaborative industry leadership organisation, designed to champion and grow the sector at home and abroad, organises the annual Fortnight celebration to amplify innovation and best practice in the industry.

Food & Drink Fortnight is the country’s biggest food and drink celebration and is a focus for companies to encourage more people than ever to buy, eat and promote Scottish products.

Fiona Richmond, Head of Regional Food at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “This is a special year as Scotland Food & Drink marks 10 years of delivering the annual celebration of our fantastic national larder and the people who produce, cook, serve and sell it.

“With major national initiatives including the UK Market Development Strategy and Food Tourism Scotland action plan well underway, this year’s Fortnight plays an even greater part in increasing the sourcing, selling and promoting of local produce, which is essential if we are to reach our collective target of achieving a sector worth £30bn by 2030.

“Whatever part you play, whether that be a producer, chef, retailer, caterer or someone who loves local food, there are lots of ways to join in and further information, ideas and inspiration can be found on the website.”

Fergus Ewing MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy with responsibility for food and drink, said: “Food and Drink Fortnight is a welcome opportunity to bring Scotland’s food and drink industry together, along with producers and consumers from Scotland and across the globe, to celebrate Scotland’s amazing natural larder. 

“The industry has gone from strength to strength in recent years – and is well on its way to doubling in value by 2030, to £30 billion.

“However, Brexit threatens to undo that progress, and could have a major impact on a sector that relies heavily on frictionless trade with our neighbours. It’s more important than ever before that the sector comes together to get more people to produce and consume Scottish products.”

The launch of this year’s Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight was celebrated at the Scotch Whisky Experience where they have been inspiring visitors to Edinburgh about the joys of Scotch whisky for over 30 years. Over the years they’ve welcomed over 7 million visitors from around the world and poured over 9 million drams of Scotch whisky.

Wendy Neave, Head of Events & Hospitality at the Scotch Whisky Experience, added: “Our Amber restaurant established food and whisky matching 18 years ago with our Scottish Tapas and then Taste of Scotland menus.  This September we are celebrating with the launch of a new whisky and food tasting experience.  Tasting Tales is based on the stories of Scotland’s food and drink with our most popular tried and tested food pairings.”

Scottish Food & Drink is now worth a record £15bn to the Scottish economy and through awareness raising events like the Fortnight, is anticipated to grow to a £30bn industry by 2030.

Follow the conversation around Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight on Twitter by following @scotfooddrink and using the hashtag #ScotFoodFort19.

Find out what’s on and how you can get involved at fooddrinkfort.scot.

Source