Flavour Fortnight 2011
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-00600, in the name of Aileen McLeod, on flavour fortnight 2011. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Dumfries and Galloway-based Flavour Fortnight 2011 for a packed programme of 92 events between 3 and 18 September; notes that the programme spans the entire food and drink experience from farming and food production to fine dining and that it includes a diverse range of events including a wild food forage around an art gallery, an opportunity to enjoy the first tilapia harvest from Scotland’s first aquaponics project, full-day butchery demonstrations, the opportunity to meet local producers and take advantage of plenty of tastings of local seafood, shellfish, Galloway beef, cheeses, smoked food etc; further notes that the events take place across Dumfries and Galloway with local businesses and producers working together to provide a vibrant and enthusiastic boost for Scotland’s food and drink industry; acknowledges that Flavour Fortnight is led by Savour the Flavours and receives funding from LEADER and Dumfries and Galloway Council; considers that Flavour Fortnight is in keeping with Scotland’s first food and drink policy as introduced by the Scottish Government and would welcome similar support for local producers across the rest of Scotland, and wishes Flavour Fortnight 2011 the best of success this year and for the future.
17:06
I am delighted that my first members’ business debate in the Parliament is on a topic that is so ingrained in the south of Scotland. I thank the members who signed my motion and who are taking part in the debate. I greatly appreciate their interest. It is clear that they recognise the vital importance of the food and drink sector, not just in the south of Scotland but throughout the country.
Scottish food and drink fortnight is under way and we are halfway through flavour fortnight in Dumfries and Galloway. The annual celebration of Scottish produce encourages consumers to discover, buy and enjoy the local food and drink that is produced on their doorsteps and builds Scotland’s reputation as a land of food and drink. It is fantastic that so many places are embracing the enthusiastic promotion of high-quality Scottish produce.
We have lots to be proud of when it comes to the food and drink sector in Scotland. During his statement to the Parliament yesterday, the First Minister said:
“Our food and drink sector and our farming and fisheries are a key part of what Scotland offers to the world. In June 2010, Scottish food exports broke the £1 billion barrier for the first time.”—[Official Report, 7 September 2011; c 1373.]
I think that we can all agree that that is great news for Scotland and for our economy.
The Scottish Government’s national food and drink policy shows the understanding of the sector’s importance to Scotland that the Scottish National Party Government had from the outset. Yesterday the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment published new figures, which show an increase in the sector’s turnover to £11.9 billion. Retail sales of Scottish brands in England, Scotland and Wales rose by 30 per cent or £425 million between May 2007 and May 2010, and Scotch beef sales in Scotland alone increased by 21 per cent.
Those are fantastic figures, which represent a great story for Scotland to tell, but there is more that we can do to promote the food and drink industry in Scotland, at home and further afield. The ever-increasing network of farmers markets and farm shops and events such as the flavour fortnight events across Dumfries and Galloway show how people’s attitudes have changed. People want to know where their produce comes from and engage with the source. We need to support and encourage that.
Food is a critical element of Dumfries and Galloway’s tourism experience. Flavour fortnight, with its 92 events, demonstrates that the sector is growing and positions Dumfries and Galloway at the forefront of that growth.
The hard efforts of savour the flavours of Dumfries and Galloway, the Wigtownshire food forum and Flavours of Galloway in promoting local food and drink excellence across Dumfries and Galloway and working with producers to find wider markets are to be commended.
As part of flavour fortnight a diverse and broad range of unusual and unique events are taking place across the region, which are giving local people and visitors the opportunity to see things that they would not normally see. Producers are opening their doors, farmers markets are putting on special demonstrations and hotels and restaurants are offering menus that highlight local produce. One of the members, Sulwath Brewers, to which I was delighted to take the cabinet secretary in April, has even developed a new real ale especially for flavour fortnight, called Flavour Fortnight FestivAle.
The rural element is key not only to the event but to the broader debate on promoting Scotland’s food and drink heritage and future. The wider broadband infrastructure discussion is one that is frequently raised in this Parliament and I have no doubt that it will feature heavily in the future. With so many people turning to the internet to place orders, we must provide the appropriate support to our suppliers, farmers and producers to enable them to keep up with the demand. I fully support the south of Scotland next generation broadband project, which is vitally important to enabling our rural businesses to compete on a level playing field with the rest of Scotland and beyond.
Similarly, the issue of extremely high fuel prices in rural areas is a factor in the industry not realising its full potential.
Another key issue that the cabinet secretary will be aware of is that of European Union protected food status schemes, which can help our producers to protect their famous Scottish foods. However, of the 520 currently registered protected designations of origin products, 143 are from Italy; 80 are from Spain; 68 are from Greece; 82 are from France; 58 are from Portugal; and just 16 are from the United Kingdom. Of those, the identifiable Scottish ones are Shetland lamb, Orkney beef and Orkney lamb. Out of the current 80 applications for PDOs, only three are from the UK, with none from Scotland.
Although progress has been made, I believe that there is still more to do, especially in terms of raising awareness of the PDO scheme and ensuring that there is support for efforts to have products included in it. I am sure that there are many local products in Dumfries and Galloway that could benefit from having such a protected status, such as Galloway beef, which I mentioned to Alyn Smith MEP when I was in Brussels last week.
Looking to the future of Scotland’s food and drink industry, I have been greatly impressed with the work in Ireland to promote food trails, which form an impressive network of routes throughout Irish towns and cities whereby producers, retailers and suppliers work together to promote quality produce. Each trail is local to the area but is promoted nationally. The network is fast becoming a big attraction for locals and visitors. The trails provide a fantastic way to see the country and support the local economy at the same time, and I would be keen for similar initiatives to spread across Scotland. We have an industry that is keen to pursue that approach, and I look forward to working with partnerships across the south of Scotland to get such an initiative up and running. I hope that other MSPs who are here today will be encouraged to do the same.
Every region of Scotland has an active food and drink sector, therefore it is imperative that all organisations, large and small, are encouraged to work together in the same direction and with the same goal: to ensure that Scotland is the number 1 food destination.
17:14
I congratulate Aileen McLeod warmly not only on achieving her first members’ business debate, but on the subject that she has chosen. It is exactly the type of subject that fits most comfortably within members’ debates and, as the constituency member for Galloway and West Dumfries, I am only too delighted to speak in support of the motion. My only complaint is about the timing of the debate. However, that is a purely selfish concern arising from the fact that I have to attend a constituency event at Castle Douglas at eight o’clock this evening, which means that I must offer apologies to Aileen McLeod, the chamber and you, Presiding Officer, as I must leave as soon as I have finished my speech if I am not to incur the wrath of the police force.
One of my great pleasures since 1999 has been to witness the quite remarkable growth of local food production, processing and marketing in Dumfries and Galloway. From the occasional smokery that one used to pass, the industry has grown into one that spans Scotland and is of ever-increasing importance to the rural economy. I have no doubt that its importance will continue to grow.
As the motion points out, entrepreneurs and artisans have ensured that local food and drink production now encompasses a vast range of products. Those range from smoked fish and meats to breads, cheeses, preserves, beers, wines, cordials and fish—even tilapia is now produced in Dumfries and Galloway. If members do not know what it means, as I did not, they should google it. There are game products and venison, native beef and sheep products—the list goes on and is, frankly, as long as the imagination and ingenuity of the producers.
All that is aided greatly by the growth in farmers markets, as was mentioned, and the huge interest in cookery programmes on television. As someone who has considerable trouble just boiling an egg, I confess to a fascination with programmes such as “MasterChef” and others. We should not downplay the influence of those programmes, nor of the TV chefs themselves, in raising consumers’ interest in locally produced and sourced products.
Savour the flavours of Dumfries and Galloway has captured all that in the flavour fortnight, and I endorse everything that Aileen McLeod said about that organisation in her opening speech. I believe that after a sticky start, the organisation is now very much on the right tracks.
A perfect example of the ingenuity that has been shown by the local participants in the flavour fortnight—to which Aileen McLeod has already referred—is the production of a special beer just for the fortnight, called FestivAle, by Sulwath Brewers Ltd in Castle Douglas. It is a great initiative by a wonderful microbrewery. However, I want to highlight a considerable disadvantage that has been imposed not only on Sulwath Brewers but on all microbreweries throughout Scotland by an act of this Parliament, namely the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
The purpose of part of the 2005 act was to make the liquor licensing regime self-funding. There is nothing wrong with that in theory, but in practice somewhere between 30 and 35 per cent of all licence holders across Dumfries and Galloway chose not to renew their licences, simply because of the vast increase in cost of applying for a licence to sell alcohol. Without exception, those licences were held by village and farm shops, tea rooms, delicatessens, garden centres, small restaurants and other similar outlets that have nothing to do with binge drinking or the alcohol-related social problems that we abhor. They have everything to do with enhancing the eating and tourism experience that was mentioned earlier and which is so important for rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway. As a result of the act, Sulwath Brewers has lost nine retail outlets for its excellent products in Castle Douglas High Street alone. The damage could be simply undone if the Government were to change the basis for the licence fee from rateable value to turnover of alcohol. I have discussed this with Kenny MacAskill, but I urge the Government to look at doing this for the sake of its otherwise excellent policy on the promotion of Scotland’s food and drink.
I am out of time, but I would have liked to have mentioned the importance of re-instituting local abattoirs as part of local food chains—something that we all agree on. I endorse the motion and I wish savour the flavours every possible success over the two weeks. One or two members have been kind enough to mention that I lost a little weight over the summer recess. I fully expect to have reversed that trend by the end of flavour fortnight.
17:18
I congratulate Aileen McLeod on obtaining this debate and allowing us to talk about the fantastic development of Scotland’s food and drink, which the Scottish Government has been able to support and extend to new heights in sales locally and across Scotland, and in sales of Scottish produce in England and other countries. This flavour fortnight in Dumfries and Galloway has echoes across the country in ways in which funding sources are brought together, and local groups, who are so keen to start and develop, are supported.
In my constituency, the North Highland Initiative has grown from Prince Charles’s initiative using the Mey Selections brand and is able to bring together farmers, fine food producers and consumers, allowing them to access a range of goods than can be bought from within a 100-mile radius of the Castle of Mey. They include whisky, beef, lamb, tweed, oatcakes, shortbread, honey, fish and shellfish. I am sure that that echoes the range that is available in Dumfries and Galloway. Each area has the opportunity to find ways in which it can sell its goods to those who wish to buy.
The issues that are ahead of us relate to how to ensure that goods reach the widest market. Some producers are very small and can sell only very locally, but independent retail outlets are important at the early stages. Many more hotels and restaurants need to say in their menus that they use local produce. The North Highland Initiative has done a deal with Sainsbury’s to sell a prepared meal that includes beef from the north of Scotland, which gets to a huge audience. Local products deserve to reach such audiences.
The shellfish industry operates all round our coast, but particularly in the Highlands and Islands, and is a case in point. In 2010, Highland had 49 shellfish-growing businesses that employed 102 people, and Scotland had 164 such businesses. Initial sales, which include wild mussels that have been cared for, make the industry worth £8.3 million. The industry is small, but it is growing and is absolutely essential, because it is one of the cleanest uses of our seas. When we have the opportunity to celebrate our food, our seafood is one of the aspects that have most to give.
It is interesting to see how support is given. Yesterday evening I attended a dinner with Asda, which has a very good policy for engaging with local suppliers—its supermarket engagement arrangement is perhaps the best, and other supermarkets should look at what it does. However, that does not suit everybody, as I said. Independent retailers are important, but on a large scale, Asda—which is a huge organisation—can sell products in one or two shops or in many. That part of the process will create even better support for our local produce.
We have a great opportunity to support the local foods of Dumfries and Galloway, which I hope I will manage to go and celebrate there. In the meantime, I must go north and celebrate local foods in my constituency. I say well done to Aileen McLeod for choosing a great subject to discuss.
17:22
I, too, congratulate Aileen McLeod on securing her first members’ business debate to celebrate the savour the flavours food festival in Dumfries and Galloway. Last year, the Scottish Government sponsored a debate on Scottish food fortnight, in which I highlighted that food festival, so it is good to return to the topic a year later. That debate coincided with the Pope’s visit to Scotland and I remember grumbling that too few people would be involved in the discussion.
The food festival is even bigger this year—it involves 92 events over 16 days and covers the whole region, including Moffat, Sanquhar, Thornhill, Langholm, Gretna, Annan and Dumfries. I could go right round my constituency eating for the next few days but, as I am shorter than Alex Fergusson, doing that might have a worse effect on my weight than it would on his.
It is important that savour the flavours is led by the industry but supported by Dumfries and Galloway Council and the LEADER programme, which granted a two-year funding package. The organisation supports producers, manufacturers and retailers and encourages food outlets, which include restaurants, hotels and cafes, to do exactly what Rob Gibson described—to use and advertise their use of local produce. Savour the flavours encourages local people and visitors to the area to try our local food and has an important role in educating children about local produce, how food is produced and the value of good food. The organisation encourages people to eat local, which is important to reducing food miles.
If anybody has looked, they will know that the savour the flavours website is excellent. It links to local suppliers with which people can place orders for food. For lucky people such as me, who have the great privilege of living in Dumfries and Galloway, some suppliers will deliver orders for free on some days of the week.
The festival is important to local industries, producers, processors, retailers and tourism links in the region, but it is wider than that—it promotes the appreciation of quality food. As I said last year—I say sorry to the cabinet secretary for repeating myself—that is important to matters such as the fight against obesity. If people are encouraged to eat less but better-quality food, that benefits their health, as well as being a much more enjoyable experience.
We need the supermarkets and big retailers, as well as small independent retailers, to do what Asda is doing and commit to having local produce on their shelves, as Rob Gibson described. Retailers should sell smaller portion sizes so that people can afford to buy quality food, and they should provide for the needs of single people. As we have touched on previously in the Parliament, single people are often not catered for by food markets. We also need a labelling scheme that gives consumers confidence that they are buying local produce.
I want to touch on the issue of abattoirs, which Alex Fergusson did not have time for. We need local abattoirs and local processing facilities to ensure that all stages of the food process are local. In the previous session of Parliament, we discussed concerns that the Food Standards Agency’s proposals on abattoir charges might have a deleterious effect on local abattoirs such as the one in Lockerbie and could make it less likely that animals will be slaughtered locally. There is no sense in having locally produced lamb or beef that has to travel to the other end of the country to be slaughtered and then travel somewhere else to be processed and then back again to be sold. I ask the cabinet secretary to update us on what has happened on that issue because, to an extent, I have lost sight of the concerns. I do not know whether the issue has been resolved, but it is important if we are to reduce food miles and ensure that local food really is local.
17:26
I am delighted to speak in support of Aileen McLeod’s motion. I, too, congratulate her on the debate. Flavour fortnight represents the best of the outputs of Dumfries and Galloway’s food and drink industry. I claim that, along with South Ayrshire, the area represents the premier garden of Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway’s flavour fortnight and the people who are associated with it should be congratulated, and deservedly so. The variety and diversity of the programme are to be applauded. The living experience, which goes from new products through production to events, dining and consumption, is a tribute to all involved, including the members of savour the flavours.
Activities such as flavour fortnight provide the foundation of the food industry’s ambition to drive up its revenue in Scotland to £12.5 billion by 2017 and its exports to £5.1 billion in the same period. Last year, in France—the so-called kitchen of Europe—imports from Scotland grew by 24 per cent. I am sure that, with improvements in logistics and overnight transport and refrigeration, we will see an even greater emphasis on exports. The gross value added from the industry in the past two years has been £4.8 billion, of which manufacturing provides a substantial amount. It is a vibrant employment business, and Dumfries and Galloway plays a significant part in that.
We are in the midst of a food and drink revolution in Scotland, as those figures indicate. Scotland’s reputation as a land of drink and food is strongly enhanced. The Government’s strong support for primary producers, some of whom are involved in flavour fortnight, is focused on the quality of Scotland’s natural resources and raw materials. That will help to drive forward the revolution.
We have locally produced food with new and yet traditional methods of production; quality products that are different and unique; and special food and drink that is specially presented—that makes me hungry already. Flavour fortnight is playing its role in protecting and enhancing our reputation as the land of food and drink. I congratulate Aileen McLeod on this important motion, just as I congratulate all those who are associated with flavour fortnight.
17:29
I, too, congratulate Aileen McLeod on securing the debate. As we all recognise, she has picked a fantastic topic for her first members’ business debate and I welcome the other positive speeches that members across the chamber have made. I should also say to Aileen McLeod—and, in his absence, to Alex Fergusson—that my taste buds have fond memories of my visit back in April to the microbrewery that they mentioned.
I also congratulate Dumfries and Galloway Council on its comprehensive programme of 92 events in its flavour fortnight. I regret that I will not have the opportunity to visit any of those events this year, but should any of the local MSPs wish to invite me to next year’s event I will be more than delighted to come—and, yes, that was a very big hint.
I have certainly been impressed by the breadth of the areas that the flavour fortnight is covering. As we have heard, it ranges from events showcasing traditional local Scottish fare to innovative ideas such as the wild food forage around an art gallery in the area. Given that all those events will encourage people to discover, buy and enjoy the food and drink that is produced on our very own doorsteps, it is good to see that LEADER funding has helped with the event’s overall management and promotion. This is a clear example of the public, private and third sectors all working together to contribute to and promote rural development and sustainable economic growth on the back of our food and drink businesses.
Events similar to the Dumfries and Galloway flavour fortnight are taking place across the country and are encouraging everyone, regardless of age, taste or budget, to become more informed about what they buy and why they buy it and to try something new. The fortnight not only supports the people who make the food and drink we enjoy but challenges our restaurants, caterers and suppliers to source and champion quality Scottish produce. It is great that, since it was first started in 2003 by the Scottish Countryside Alliance Education Trust, the event has grown.
As we have heard, this year’s food and drink fortnight—the initiative is now in its ninth year—is even bigger than before, with more than 200 events, or a more than 50 per cent increase on the number of events last year. That sends a clear message that more and more people are joining in and celebrating the variety of Scotland’s natural larder. I am pleased to say that we have been able to support Scotland Food and Drink again this year to enable small food businesses to attend the events taking place during the fortnight. Of course, the success of Scottish food and drink fortnight is part of a much wider trend. As Chic Brodie pointed out, a revolution is happening in Scotland’s food and drink industry and it is local food and drink initiatives such as that in Dumfries and Galloway and other communities throughout the country that are giving grass-roots momentum to that revolution.
There are many different dimensions to all this. For example, I was pleased to hear Aileen McLeod, in particular, suggest that it can help tourism, highlighting what is happening in Ireland with the food trails. I would like to find out more about that, because it sounds like a good initiative, but I point out that we have a commitment in Scotland to supporting food networks throughout the country and we envisage that they will play a food tourism role. I certainly agree with members that that is a huge and untapped opportunity. Some of the food initiatives that have been discussed certainly support that approach and are kicking off these opportunities, but I agree that much more can be done.
What is certain, though, is that demand for local produce is continuing to grow with nearly a third of Scotland’s shoppers saying that they have specifically bought locally produced food. That is good news, particularly given that when people think there is a recession they tend to move away from local food. That that has not been the case is a good vindication and endorsement of Scotland’s reputation of good food and produce.
Scotland is renowned across the world for its unspoilt landscapes and high-quality produce, all of which underpin its success in this area. As members have pointed out, even in this tough economic climate there has been an increase in retail sales of Scottish brands; indeed, in the past few years alone, sales have gone up by a third. Scottish food and drink exports are also at an all-time high, with international sales reaching £4.5 billion. Those figures are testament to a real consumer demand for the high-quality food and drink products that this country has to offer.
Since May 2007, the Government has supported many businesses with around £30 million of assistance through our food grant schemes. I mention that because the issue of local abattoirs was raised during the debate. The fact is that assistance is available to anyone who wishes to make a business case for a local abattoir. I think that we are all in favour of the philosophy behind such abattoirs but they have to be commercially viable—and that, in many cases, has been the challenge in Scotland.
However, Scotland has local abattoirs and many projects are being investigated to try to open new local abattoirs. There are challenges—for example, Elaine Murray mentioned the role of the Food Standards Agency. Of course, the Scottish Government listens to the industry and that is why we are having a review of the FSA’s role in Scotland. An important part of that review is the role of the meat hygiene service and all the charges that are associated with it, which of course help to determine whether rural abattoirs are viable in the first place. I will update Parliament in due course on how that review is going.
We should celebrate the fact that it is all good news on the food and drink front in Scotland. Promoting local food is very important and the Scottish farmers market partnership is one way of doing that. This Government has delivered the first ever support to that organisation to help our primary producers at a local level interact with consumers on their own doorstep. There are now 53 farmers markets across Scotland, which is good news.
Dumfries and Galloway’s flavour fortnight, which is part of the wider Scottish food and drink fortnight, is our opportunity to celebrate the continued growth and success of Scotland’s famous food and drink industry. People now associate Scotland’s image with good-quality, healthy and often seasonal food and drink produce, which has perhaps not always been the case.
That is why the revolution that is under way deserves the support of this Parliament and of all parties. I know that it has that support. We have the opportunity to get behind it and allow the initiatives in Dumfries and Galloway and elsewhere in the country to go from strength to strength and deliver a huge number of benefits for Scotland.
Meeting closed at 17:36.