The Procurement Roundtable, hosted on the 28th November at the Royal Highland Centre brought together the Union and the Public Sector Catering Alliance (PSCA) which included key procurement bodies, public sector catering representatives and food producers to discuss how the system can better support Scottish produce.
Key discussions included: the important role of data to establish a baseline of the current food procurement landscape, the challenging circumstances facing the public catering sector and the need for collaborative leadership to drive meaningful change to address the systemic challenges.
The meeting heard that over the past decade, Scotland’s public procurement landscape had undergone significant transformation – shaped by sustainability goals, new legislation and trade developments.
NFU Scotland says that there had been no tangible progress in supporting more domestic growers and producers securing public sector contracts.
And the Scottish Government’s draft Good Food Nation National Plan which came out earlier in the year - setting out a long-term vision for food in Scotland - missed a key opportunity to embed local sourcing within public procurement.
Jayne Jones, chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance, said: “This roundtable discussion was an important event that gave public sector caterers, NFUS, and others the opportunity to listen to different perspectives, better understand the current challenges, and identify opportunities for more aligned working.
“The last round table between the public sector and NFUS took place back in 2019, with John Swinney, who was Cabinet Secretary for Education at the time, leading the discussion. This time, we had the opportunity to explore the current food systems landscape in Scotland, and the session was long overdue.”
She said it was great to have so many voices from across public sector, farming and production and wider supply chain and industry involved in an excellent discussion around what was going well.
Among the ideas to improve the commitment to public food and to farming and food production in Scotland was suggestion of splitting contracts into small lots and working with wholesalers to create opportunities.
She added that the award-winning Pease Please project in Aberdeen was now being expanded to Moray and to the Highland.
Jones said: “There was agreement from all that there needs to be Cabinet-level and wider systems leadership focusing on this at a local and national level to really drive change.”
NFU Scotland President Andrew Connon added: “The food served in Scotland’s schools, hospitals and care homes should reflect the quality of what we produce here. Farmers and crofters across the country are delivering world-class food to the highest standards - yet the system often limits the ability of the public sector to utilise local produce.
“We want to see a Scottish First approach, where local, fresh and sustainably produced food is prioritised and properly valued. That means reforming the way contracts are awarded, ensuring that cost and quality are adequately balanced, and making sure budgets can realistically support high-quality, local food.”
Jones concluded: “There was commitment from all attendees that this session should be a starting point to really begin to deliver for public food and for farmers, producers and suppliers, with a further session arranged for early in the New Year to keep momentum going.”