SCOTTISH Food & Drink Fortnight returns September 3 – 18 following a hiatus during Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink 2015. The nationwide event supports and promotes Scotland’s produce and the people who grow, make, cook and sell it.
The focus of this year’s celebration are primary producer ‘food heroes’ – the farmers and fishermen whose hard work is the foundation of this Land of Food and Drink. They are the backbone of the sector, growing, rearing, harvesting and catching top quality raw ingredients for suppliers to produce their goods; delivered to chefs to create beautiful dishes and to consumers to enjoy the finished product. They are integral to the continued success of the £14.3bn Scottish food and drink industry which boasts iconic world-class products including Scotch Beef, Lamb and Whisky along with global brands and dedicated producers.
Scotland’s fantastic larder of naturally healthy produce offers strong provenance across seafood, beef, lamb, venison, diary, whisky, confectionery, soft fruits and oat based products. Impressively, 75% of Scotland’s land mass is under agricultural production while 65,000 people are directly employed in agriculture (NFUS). The Scottish seafood industry consists of 2,000 boats and 5,000 fisherman (SDI) in addition the worldwide retail value of Scottish farmed salmon is more than £1bn (SSPO).
Scotland Food & Drink chief project manager Fiona Richmond said: “Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is a fantastic celebration of our country’s larder. Scotland is rightly recognised as a Land of Food and Drink and I encourage people to discover for themselves the producers that merit this reputation.
“With more than 200 events across the country, I urge everyone to get behind the Fortnight. Other supporters and participants include supermarkets, independent retailers, farm shops, visitor attractions, food festivals and restaurants so it’s easy to sample produce and learn more about our Scottish food and drink heroes!”
Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is managed by commercially-focused independent industry leadership organisation Scotland Food & Drink and is funded by the Scottish Government. The celebration takes place during the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, providing a great opportunity to showcase the wealth of innovation in the industry from talented producers who combine tradition with innovation. Innovative Scottish products include healthy seaweed seasonings to the production of courgetti and cauliflower rice.
Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland said: “Promoting our food and drink is a recipe for success with two out of three visitors to Scotland stating that the quality of food is an important factor when deciding where to go on holiday. Last year, the Year of Food and Drink raised the profile of Scotland’s outstanding natural larder to unprecedented levels and Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is another chance to further develop our country’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink.
“Taking place in the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, the Fortnight also provides a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the abundance of innovation on show in the food and drink industry with innovative events such as the first ever West Highland Food Festival leading a packed programme of events for locals and visitors alike to enjoy this September.”
Visit the Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight website at http://fooddrinkfort.scot, follow @scotfoodfort and engage with the discussion using #scotfoodfort.
