The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-12801, in the name of Joan McAlpine, on DG food and drink. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I invite those who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak button now or as soon as possible.
I invite members and, indeed, members of the public who are leaving the chamber to please do so quickly and quietly. I call Joan McAlpine, who has seven minutes.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament understands the importance of food and drink to the Scottish economy; believes that the Year of Food and Drink 2015 is a chance to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s natural produce; considers that food and drink are an important part of Scottish cultural identity and heritage and are key strengths in promoting Scotland as a holiday destination; recognises as an example of best practice the collaborative activities between food businesses, organisations and the public sector across Dumfries and Galloway to raise awareness of the economic importance of food and drink production in the region; congratulates DG Food and Drink and Dumfries and Galloway Council on developing and launching Scotland’s Artisan Food Trail, a new tourism trail to encourage food tourism during the Year of Food and Drink and beyond; congratulates the food and drink industry in Dumfries and Galloway for embracing the opportunities presented by the Year of Food and Drink, and looks forward to seeing Dumfries and Galloway increasingly recognised across Scotland and beyond as a food tourism destination.
12:34
I am delighted to speak in this debate, which will highlight the opportunities and achievements of the 2015 year of food and drink.
Scotland’s larder is a vital part of our economy and is central to our heritage and cultural identity. Food tourism, which I will talk about, brings together those different strands in promoting food as a visitor experience and enriching Scotland in a variety of ways. I want to talk about some examples of how the sector in Dumfries and Galloway has been making the most of the themed year.
Food and drink generate £43.52 million locally, and they employed 964 people in full-time or part-time jobs in 2012. The region is, of course, a major beef producer and accounts for a large volume of Scotland’s dairy output. This week, MSPs had the chance to enjoy the superb produce from the south-west when catering students from Dumfries and Galloway College took over the members’ restaurant. The college is expanding its catering division, which again reflects the potential of the industry not least in creating jobs and offering apprenticeships.
Recognition of the sector’s importance has resulted in the creation of DG food and drink, which is led by the marketing expert Lorna Young. DG food and drink is a business information and support service that is provided on behalf of Dumfries and Galloway Council and which caters for all aspects of the industry, from production to retail and hospitality.
One aspect of that support is Scotland’s artisan food trail. The trail is financed with £15,000 from the council and £15,000 from the Scottish Government’s community food fund, which is designed to support local initiatives. The Dumfries and Galloway food trail will be launched next month. A website and a database of food-related businesses, events and experiences are included. Other DG food and drink initiatives for the industry include a website to promote farmers markets, which, to use a food metaphor, have mushroomed in recent years. Next week, the regional tourism conference in Dumfries and Galloway will highlight the sector’s potential as a visitor attraction and encourage local tourism businesses to use local produce.
DG food and drink is also building up the sector’s ability to market itself. Last week, it funded an event that taught skills in the highly specialised area of food photography.
The challenge for anyone who embarks on a food and drink-inspired holiday in Dumfries and Galloway is, of course, what to miss out. There are just too many businesses on the list to name them all. If members pardon the pun, I will give them just a taster of what is on offer.
Kilnford is a large mixed farm at Ingleston that is famed for its grass-reared belted Galloways, blackface sheep and free-range pigs. It has a farm shop with a famous delicatessen as well as a restaurant and a nature trail, which attract visitors from miles around.
Barony Country Foods was established in response to growing customer demand for high-quality rainbow trout and venison from Barony College’s deer and trout farms. The business now offers a wide variety of fish, poultry and game and operates a traditional Scottish smokehouse. All the produce can be bought online.
Similar added-value businesses can be seen in the dairy sector. Cream o’ Galloway offers a very attractive visitor experience alongside its delicious product, as indeed does Drummuir farm ice cream parlour in the village of Collin, which is just outside Dumfries. There is also the award-wining Criffel cheese from Loch Arthur, made by residents of the Camphill community, which has its own dairy, bakery and brand-new farm shop.
I could add several chocolatiers, including the extremely creative Abbotts in Langholm and Liz Cole in Moniaive, who makes the world’s first tartan chocolate. That chocolate can be purchased in the Scottish Parliament gift shop.
Scotland’s newest whisky producer, the Annandale Distillery, is just outside the town of Annan. After the distillery closed in 1918, it lay derelict, as many distilleries did, until it was lovingly restored by the international marketing entrepreneur Professor David Thomson and his wife Teresa. The building is of considerable architectural significance, and the Thomsons have spent £10.5 million turning it into a quality visitor attraction. Its single malts honour two local sons. Robert Burns, who was an exciseman in those parts, inspired the Man o’ Words single malt, and Robert the Bruce, who was Lord of Annandale before he was King of Scotland, inspired the more peaty Man o’ Sword. The distillery’s location makes it the first in Scotland, and it will act as a gateway to Dumfries and Galloway. I respectfully suggest to the cabinet secretary that he visit that distillery. He would find that a very satisfying experience and perhaps a great way to start off the food trail.
Although whisky is our best-known spirit, the artisan food trail will also feature beverages that are less commonly associated with Scotland. For example, in Langholm, Waulkmill produces a 100 per cent Scottish craft cider from traditionally grown apples and pears. Like other small cider producers, that business plays a vital role in preserving ancient orchards and apple varieties. It also offers delicious day courses in cider making via the do something delicious website, which highlights food experiences and gives consumers right across the UK the opportunity to purchase them.
However, as with other craft-cider producers, Waulkmill is under threat, despite the best efforts of local and national Government here in Scotland. The United Kingdom currently has a duty exemption for small-scale cider producers that dates back to the time of Chancellor Denis Healey. However, the European Union now wants the UK to drop that exemption, which could put many of those cider producers out of business. In fact, considerable concern about the proposal has been expressed by craft-cider producers. As members might imagine, they are concentrated in the west country of England, but the move will clearly affect Scotland as well.
DG food and drink believes that the UK Government could fight the EU proposition by highlighting the fragile, traditional and localised nature of craft-cider production in its response to the EU, which I understand will be submitted quite soon. Anything that the cabinet secretary can do to help by pointing out to the Treasury that Scotland is also affected by the ruling will certainly be most welcome in Dumfriesshire—although I realise that the Scottish Government cannot influence the matter, given that Scotland is not a member state of the EU. In the meantime, however, Waulkmill is still open for business in Langholm, producing cider vinegar and apple juice as well as the strong stuff, and it is well worth a visit by people making their way along the artisan food trail.
In conclusion, I again congratulate DG food and drink and Dumfries and Galloway Council and wish them well in their work with the region’s food producers. Now that we are planning summer holidays and short breaks, I urge everyone to consider heading south in this special year to enjoy a taste of Dumfries and Galloway.
12:42
I congratulate Joan McAlpine on securing the debate and giving us the opportunity to celebrate and promote some of Dumfries and Galloway’s greatest assets.
Savour the Flavours was very successful in promoting local food and drink in Dumfries and Galloway during the period of its operation from 2009 to 2013, and I and others were very concerned when the organisation did not feel able to apply for a continuation of its contract with Dumfries and Galloway Council. I met the council and other representatives, and a number of members met the cabinet secretary himself, to try to seek a resolution that would have enabled the organisation to continue to operate, and I was sorry when the problems were not resolved.
However, the drive to capitalise on Dumfries and Galloway’s wealth of fine food and drink has continued under the successor organisation, DG food and drink. Together with Dumfries and Galloway Council, it has developed a £30,000 project to encourage food tourism during the year of food and drink 2015, with £15,000 of the funding being provided by the council and the other £15,000 coming through the community food fund.
Dumfries and Galloway is, of course, already famous for its food and drink. We have some major players, including Pinneys of Scotland in Annan, which is a subsidiary of the Seafood Company and has an exclusive contract to produce all the seafood products sold by Marks and Spencer. Arla Foods UK, a farmer-owned European dairy co-operative that involves 3,000 British farmers, has based its Scottish factory outside Lockerbie, where it processes 180 million litres of fresh milk, 30 kilotonnes of cheese and 10 kilotonnes of butter per year, with the cheese and butter being marketed under the Lockerbie Creamery brand.
Joan McAlpine mentioned Cream o’ Galloway ice cream, which is well known both within and outwith Dumfries and Galloway. For several years now, Mr and Mrs Finlay have developed a visitor attraction linked to their ice cream and cheese production. Established in 2004, Uncle Roy’s Comestible Concoctions are produced in Moffat and are now sold around the world. Many other producers that might be less well known but which are equally excellent include Abbotts Chocolates, whose products are hand made in Langholm; the tartan chocolates that are sold in the Parliament shop, which are made in Moniaive; bespoke cakes that are produced in Dumfries; By Heck! preserves, which are produced just outside Lockerbie; the Damn Fine Cheese Company—which is what it calls itself; it is not me getting excited about it—in Thornhill; Waulkmill cider, which Joan McAlpine mentioned and which is from Langholm; The Little Bakery in Heathhall; and Wee Sweetie, which I believe is home based in Dumfries.
Those are just a few of the traders that are involved with DG food and drink. What could be better than enjoying those products in their region of origin while appreciating the countryside and the mild climate that contributes to the quality of many of them by having a beneficial effect on the raw materials that go into them?
Many products are available through the network of farmers markets that are held regularly across the region—the dates can be found on the dgmarkets website—and in the shops, restaurants and cafes in our towns and villages. Joan McAlpine described one of those, which is probably only about a mile from my house and is one of my favourite places to buy food.
The food trail project, which is to be launched in the near future, builds on existing strengths. The most popular visitor attractions in the region are all food and drink producers and they will feature on the main food trail, along with the artisan and microbusinesses that are less well known at a national level, but which provide opportunities for new-start enterprises. Local food festivals and events are being promoted, and a series of photography workshops is taking place this week to ensure that food and drink tourism businesses can advertise their wares as effectively as possible through traditional and social media.
All that requires collaborative working among the private sector, the public sector, community groups, industry groups and events organisers. The ability to work collaboratively is another strength of Dumfries and Galloway’s food and drink sector.
I congratulate Lorna Young of DG food and drink on her work in organising the project, and I wish the food trail every success during this year of food and drink.
12:46
I am delighted that Joan McAlpine has brought the subject of DG food and drink to the chamber, and I congratulate her on doing so, especially as I understand that the impetus for the debate sprang from a Scottish Government press release from last year about the upcoming year of food and drink that failed to mention Dumfries and Galloway at all. I am delighted to have the opportunity to correct that record.
I have represented part of Dumfries and Galloway as a regional or a constituency MSP since 1999. Over that time, the food and drink sector has been the one sector in which there has been significant expansion. I am very tempted to mention specific businesses, but the danger is that I would fail to mention all the other wonderful businesses that exist, so I will resist that temptation. It has been truly wonderful to witness the expansion in the sector and to see it arrive at its current position, whereby the region can genuinely boast a range of food and drink products that can and perhaps should be the envy of many other regions.
According to the Scottish Government’s figures on growth sector statistics for Dumfries and Galloway, the number of registered businesses under the six recognised headings comes to a total of 3,260. Of those businesses, 2,045—almost two thirds—are food and drink related. They employ some 9,600 people and have a turnover of £516 million a year. That would be a pretty important economic input in any region, but in Dumfries and Galloway it is absolutely essential.
Therefore, the year of food and drink is very well timed from our region’s point of view, as is the creation of DG food and drink. I confess that when I first heard of the initiative, I had some doubts, because I was a huge fan and supporter—as I know other members were—of Savour the Flavours, which Elaine Murray mentioned and which was another first-class Dumfries and Galloway initiative. Savour the Flavours was an organisation that was at arm’s length from the council. It was held up as a benchmark for regional food promotion by everyone involved in the food sector, from the cabinet secretary downwards. I believe that it was successful largely because it was an arm’s-length organisation, and I was very disappointed when the plug was, in effect, pulled on it because of some accounting technicalities. I do not mean to imply that anything untoward was happening—that was not the case. I still think that that situation could have been dealt with satisfactorily if a little more time had been devoted to the problem.
That said, we seem to have moved on, to an extent, from the promotion of regional food products to the promotion of national food and drink products. However, I believe that regional branding still has a great deal to commend it. If I have a concern about the year of food and drink, it is that there seems to be a great deal of focus on export and overseas markets when there is still much more that we can do locally. An example of that is the promotion of food tourism, in relation to which I have great hopes for the DG food and drink initiative.
DG food and drink’s development of the food trail, which focuses on artisan food production, is tailor-made for the region and will be launched in May. It is centred on existing food-based visitor attractions, some of which members have mentioned, and it will develop a range of activities, such as foraging excursions and community food events. The potential is absolutely immense and I wish it every success.
DG food and drink has, in effect, taken over next week’s regional tourism conference and I have just learnt this morning—and I am delighted to be able to say—that for the first time ever the conference is a complete sell-out.
DG food and drink is, in essence, a support base. Artisan food and drink producers are, by their very nature, small and focused, and they usually do not have the time or—possibly—the expertise to see beyond the varying demands of their business. The initiative aims to provide support, expertise and, importantly, training and education in a host of ways. If it gets it right, the food and drink sector can indeed become the envy of other regions and, I suspect, other countries. That is quite a claim, but it is also quite an aim: one that is surely worth trying to achieve.
12:51
I congratulate Joan McAlpine on securing this opportunity to place Scotland’s wonderful larder in the spotlight, especially in this year, Scotland’s year of food and drink. She is quite right to highlight Dumfries and Galloway’s contribution in that regard. In terms of truly effective showcasing of local produce, Dumfries and Galloway has very much been an exemplar for the rest of Scotland.
The Savour the Flavours initiative, which Elaine Murray and Alex Fergusson mentioned, was a fantastic example of what could be achieved through effective working with producers, chefs, retailers, farmers markets, manufacturers, event organisers, schools and consumers to raise awareness of an area’s exceptional local produce. An evaluation of the programme’s work found that events led by Savour the Flavours not only helped to grow awareness of the local food sector but encouraged new visitors to the area. The initiative addressed the other key issue of the perception among businesses that local food is expensive and difficult to source.
I first encountered the initiative at the 2011 Royal Highland Show, where Savour the Flavours was competing with other regions in a food wars event, and I was hugely impressed. No one should underestimate the impact that the initiative had in promoting local businesses to a wider market. An example of that was Waulkmill Cider, which Joan McAlpine mentioned. That firm joined Savour the Flavours when it represented Scotland on the EU stand at international green week in 2013, to demonstrate an exemplar model of rural development. Waulkmill secured its first export order on the back of that event. The artisan food trail seems an appropriate successor to Savour the Flavours.
My area of Angus has been making considerable inroads into the food and drink export market, not least in the shape of Arbroath-based preserve maker Mackays. When Mackays was bought in 1995 by Paul Grant, it served only the domestic market and then only to a very limited degree. Now, as well as featuring on the shelves of six UK supermarkets, its jams, curds and marmalades are sold in more than 50 countries. Mackays has recently been shortlisted in the export business category at Scotland Food and Drink’s excellence awards. I wish Mackays all the best for the event at the end of May, along with Ogilvy Spirits, which has been shortlisted in the alcoholic drinks category and to which I will return later.
Some good work is being done by Angus Council to support what is a high-quality and varied local food and drink sector. Angus is the only UK member of the European network of regional culinary heritage. Started in 1995, that body aims to promote regional food, artisanal production and distinct culinary tradition to tourists, consumers and retailers. Additionally, the taste of Angus promotional campaign, which has been running successfully for a number of years, last year decided to expand to include business support as well as promotion. Angus Council is also working with Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau to ensure that local food is showcased at local conferences and events. Angus was slow in getting its act together compared with Dumfries and Galloway, but we are now much more effectively profiling the area’s rich food heritage both within and outwith Angus.
Of course, no mention of Angus and food would be complete without referencing the Arbroath smokie. It has been great to see renowned smokie producer Iain R Spink welcoming travellers to Scotland, with his picture adorning the arrival halls in our airports. It is also pleasing that smokies are featuring heavily in the promotional work that is being undertaken as part of the year of food and drink. The smokie is listed on Scotland Food and Drink’s blog as one of its must-tastes for the year, and there is a special smokie trail in VisitScotland’s “A Taste of Scotland’s Foodie Trails” brochure.
I want to highlight a relatively new arrival on the food and drink scene, which is innovative potato vodka. Ogilvy Spirits, which I mentioned earlier, has had its product on the market for only three months, but it recently received a double gold medal for its packaging and a silver medal for its spirit at the 2015 San Francisco world spirits competition. The business was only launched as a diversification project by tenant farmer Graeme Jarron, but what a success story it has become.
In Angus and elsewhere in Scotland, we are mixing the innovative with the traditional as, in this year of food and drink, we showcase all that our country has to offer. As Dumfries and Galloway led with Savour the Flavours, so other parts of Scotland have followed.
It would be remiss of us, in a debate on Scotland’s food and drink, not to acknowledge the role of this cabinet secretary in the success story that Scotland’s food and drink has become. Ministers in the Parliament are rightly held to account if areas of their portfolios do not perform as well as we might wish, so let us give credit where it is due and recognise that the leadership of Richard Lochhead in this area has been first class, as evidenced by the greatly increased profile and the growing value of food and drink to the Scottish economy.
12:55
I am sure that Graeme Dey will be answerable at a later stage for referring to the cabinet secretary’s profile.
I join other members in congratulating Joan McAlpine on extolling the virtues of Dumfries and Galloway and the food that is produced there and on giving those of us from elsewhere in Scotland the opportunity to talk about the important cultural Scottish identity and heritage that come from food and drink across Scotland.
Scottish food and drink has even joined the current election campaign. I saw in one of today’s papers that apparently someone in the south-west of England was complaining that the Scots were taking over the full English breakfast down in Devon, where haggis has become part of the meal. I think that that is great because haggis is wonderful food—and I suppose that even in south-west England it is probably optional.
There are bigger success stories in our food and drink industry. Reports have come out in the past 24 hours that, for the first time, the value of our farmed salmon exports has crossed £500 million mark. I think that there will be very few members of this Parliament who have not eaten salmon products that come from processing facilities in my constituency.
There are small successes as well. The Barra snail is now the connoisseur’s snail of choice in French restaurants, not only in France but in Scotland. The addition of virgin rapeseed oil is improving the quality of cooking and salads throughout Scotland and internationally—that started in the north-east of Scotland. We now have garlic farms in the cabinet secretary’s constituency.
Food is an important part of tourism, and tourism is a very important industry for us. Food will bring people to Scotland and, of course, if we do not get it right, it will make sure that they do not come back. When we talk about food, we are not necessarily talking about Michelin-starred outlets, although those are excellent and greater in number than they were in decades past; we are perhaps talking about simple things such as the quality of food in local fish and chip shops. I am delighted that, when I go to my local outlet for fish and chips, I generally have the choice of six or eight different kinds of fish, all locally sourced and all absolutely excellent. I have previously referred to the fact that Dumfries and Galloway was where I very first had yoghurt, in the 1960s. I continue to have fond memories of that.
The point about the industry is that two thirds of our food and drink businesses reckon that they are going to increase their staff over the next four years. A significant number of areas are entering the sustainable food cities scheme. We expect that, by 2016, more than 50 areas across the United Kingdom will have entered that scheme.
One thing that we dealt with at First Minister’s questions was food banks, and that raises the issue of food being available to people with limited resources. It also raises the issue of food and diet. The obesity problems we have now are because of the preparation of much of our good-quality food. If we have good-quality food, we can prepare it better and deliver it to address that agenda as well.
I will close by mentioning one dish that is available in my constituency—a modest enough dish that costs about £1. It is Downies of Whitehills Cullen skink Scotch pie: the most wonderful Scotch pie in the world. Good food can be very affordable indeed, and I hope that Downies continues to produce that Scotch pie to entertain my palate and digestive system and those of people throughout Scotland.
13:00
In our previous debate on food and drink, Alex Fergusson expressed the concern that, as we had debated the subject on a number of occasions, there was a danger of us repeating ourselves. I assure Mr Fergusson that I will not repeat myself on this occasion. Presiding Officer, I also assure you that I will not repeat the offer that I made to the Presiding Officer in the previous debate, inviting her out on a date—I am sure that you will not be disappointed about that.
Our food and drink sector is undoubtedly a success story. Whisky is the UK’s top drinks export, and our farmed salmon is now the UK’s top food export. However, although our food and drink travels well, especially in this year of food and drink, it tastes best when it is sampled here in Scotland.
I am thinking of the two mackerel that I still catch every year, cooked along with new potatoes for supper on the shore, watching the sun going down over a softly sighing warm summer sea. I am thinking of breakfast of sweet, pink, freshly caught brown trout, on the shores of a secret lochan high up in the hills in the early morning, watching the dawn come up. I am thinking of the best bannocks that I have ever had in Tingwall on Shetland, fresh-baked by an elderly lady, that I instantly fell in love with. A man can usually only dream of bannocks like that.
For those outlanders who are not so inclined to wild food, adventure or romance, Scotland now has many hotels, hostelries and restaurants where you can sample those rare delights and instantly feel at home in their warm embrace; eat in good and convivial company; and sip a smoky dram and embroil yourself in the mysteries of a good book in front of an aromatic peat fire.
However, our excellent food and drink—our fine and healthy produce—should not be the province of visitors alone. It has always been a curious irony that we Scots snack on Scottish seafood in Spain but ignore it when we are at home.
There is much added value to be gained from eating our own fare: supporting our local economies; our farmers, crofters and fishermen; our abattoirs, butchers and bakers; and the whole local supply chain that is only too keen to put wholesome healthy food on our tables. In doing so, we also reduce our food miles, and thereby help to save our environment from the curse of carbon: the element that is so necessary to life on this planet but at the same time capable of destroying it.
That is why I am glad that we have launched a further food initiative—the becoming a good food nation initiative—to encourage our public authorities, councils and health boards to lead by example by procuring and using local food and by signing up to offering fresh, seasonal, local and sustainable produce in any and all of the food outlets over which they have jurisdiction.
Scotland’s food and drink story is so far successful, but success can build on success and there is still more that we can do to build a healthy economy, with healthy minds and healthy bodies, on a diet of our own local food. I look forward to visiting Dumfries and Galloway—in the not-too-distant future, I hope—to sample some of the fine fare on offer there that I have heard about this afternoon.
13:04
I congratulate and thank Joan McAlpine for bringing the motion before Parliament today. Between them, Joan McAlpine, Alex Fergusson and Elaine Murray did a fine job for the tourist board in Dumfries and Galloway by extolling the virtues of that wonderful part of Scotland, which is what we are largely discussing today. I thank Joan McAlpine particularly for her tour of the food and drink produce of that great region. I can tell her that I have thought carefully about it and have decided to accept her invitation to visit one of the distilleries in her area. I very much look forward to receiving that invitation. I, too, find visits to distilleries very satisfying.
I congratulate Graeme Dey on managing to discuss Mackay’s jams and Arbroath smokies during a debate on Dumfries and Galloway, which was well done. I also congratulate Stewart Stevenson on introducing us to the Cullen skink Scotch pie, which I admit I had not heard of. However, I know the company that produces the pies well, so I look forward to tasting one of them in due course. Stewart Stevenson also managed to introduce into the debate the processing of Scottish salmon at a Fraserburgh factory. Of course, we also found out, for all the people out there, that the key to Mike MacKenzie’s heart is a couple of freshly baked bannocks.
Members provided a good tour of Scotland’s food and drink industry, of which we are all very proud. The food and drink sector is growing in strength and stature, and the reputation of Scotland’s natural larder is now world renowned. It is amazing to think that, between 2008 and 2012, food and drink turnover in this country increased by more than 21 per cent, whereas the figure for the UK was just over 8 per cent. That is perhaps an indication of just how well the industry in this country is doing.
Food and drink turnover here is now just under £14 billion. Another fascinating thought, to which Stewart Stevenson and others alluded, is that the UK’s biggest food export is now Scottish salmon, which has broken the £500 million barrier for the first time, and the UK’s biggest drink export is of course Scotch whisky. It is a huge achievement for Scotland that, even though we make up just over 8 per cent of the UK population, the biggest food and drink exports come from this country.
A food and drink revolution is taking place, and it has a long way to go. Of course, we are largely discussing today the food and drink revolution in Dumfries and Galloway. In Dumfries and Galloway and throughout Scotland we have fantastic food that is tasty to eat, nutritious, fresh and environmentally sustainable. That is why the people of Scotland are very proud of the food and drink industry and of Scotland’s larder, and it is why the Government decided to designate 2015 as Scotland’s second year of food and drink.
Food and drink are not just an industry, because the products play a key part in our identity and in promoting Scotland around the world as a tourism destination, which aspect of course featured heavily in many members’ contributions. Building on the momentum of the year of homecoming, we are continuing to promote the increased use of Scottish produce across the tourism and events industry.
As we have heard, Dumfries and Galloway has much fine food and drink produce, whether it is the fresh seafood from along the Solway coast, Galloway beef from the rolling pastures of that fantastic region or the variety of cheeses that many members have mentioned. Dumfries and Galloway has one of Scotland’s richest larders. As Joan McAlpine and others mentioned, many initiatives are under way as part of the year of food and drink to celebrate Dumfries and Galloway’s produce. For example, there will be the food town day on 6 June in Castle Douglas, which will be a showcase for the region’s iconic products. The year of food and drink’s special events fund is contributing £4,000 to help make that happen. There will be artisan producer stalls, cooking demonstrations and so on.
As many members have mentioned, we have to promote more and more the tourism potential of our food and drink larder. The Scottish Government is giving more attention than ever before to food tourism, as indeed is the industry. Food and drink account for around 20 per cent of tourism spend while visitors are in Scotland. That is why a lot of effort is being made to have much more collaboration between tourism and food businesses, with local agencies and others working to help support local economies, because that is certainly a way in which to generate more jobs and attract more people to our country.
There is a lot of evidence that more people are spending more money on local food than they would otherwise do because they are willing to pay a premium if they know the provenance of the food. It is worth while for local food businesses and the hospitality sector in different regions of Scotland, including in Dumfries and Galloway, to source more local food. That is what visitors from abroad or from elsewhere in Scotland want to experience, and they are willing to pay for it. It is good business, and there is a big future there.
As part of our innovative approach to promoting the tourism experience in terms of food, we are establishing agritourism monitor farms. We have one at the Laggan Outdoor centre at Gatehouse of Fleet. That is a new initiative that is aimed at promoting agritourism. I recently received an invitation to go there, so I hope to visit the centre in due course. Scottish Enterprise and other organisations are working behind that initiative, and they are extending the monitor farm concept that exists elsewhere into agritourism.
The new artisan food trail is being established in Dumfries and Galloway. That, too, is being supported: it is receiving £15,000 from the community food fund to assist with development, and there will be match funding for that exciting, innovative initiative from the local council. That collaboration between local authorities, local initiatives, Scottish Government funds and everyone else is certainly delivering dividends.
As we are discussing food and drink in south-west Scotland, it is worth mentioning that we of course have the raw materials available for the fantastic ice cream that has been mentioned by many members. I am speaking, of course, about the dairy sector and its importance in south-west Scotland. The Scottish dairy action plan that we launched recently, which brings together a whole series of measures, has at its heart adding value to the raw material. Whether it concerns ice cream, cheese or other products, if we add value to the raw materials in local economies in Dumfries and Galloway, that will create many more local jobs as well as, we hope, developing more products for the marketplace. The dairy plan—ensuring that the raw materials to which we can add value are there for the future—is very important for the future of food and drink in Dumfries and Galloway and elsewhere.
There is not much time left. I am sure that, after talking about all this fantastic food and drink, we all want to go and eat some for lunch.
There are many initiatives happening at the moment in Dumfries and Galloway. It is a fantastic area, with so many fine companies using their ingenuity, hard work, imagination and innovation to produce new food and drink products, taking them to the international marketplace and attracting more people to Dumfries and Galloway to enjoy them on the companies’ doorsteps. That is fantastic for Scotland’s global reputation as a food and drink country and it is fantastic for local economies.
Dumfries and Galloway is playing a huge role in the year of food and drink, and I congratulate everyone involved, in particular Joan McAlpine on securing the debate.
13:12 Meeting suspended.