Scottish food and drink sales soar by 21%

The latest statistics reveal that between May 2007 and May 2009, retail sales of Scottish brands across Britain increased by a fifth, an increase of £270 million. Scotch beef was the top selling Scottish brand in both Scotland and Great Britain. Acting on these results, Rural Affairs and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has unveiled a 'Recipe for Success' initiative which will look at ways to improve Scotland's first-ever national food and drink policy even more. Measures announced include action to get more Scottish food onto menus in hotels, restaurants, cafes and pubs, with clear advice on where food has come from, supporting more farmers markets, farm shops and local food initiatives across Scotland, and a new strategy for the food and drink manufacturing sector to increase sales by a third to £10 billion by 2017. Mr Lochhead said: "Scotland is world renowned as a food producing nation. What we eat and how we produce it helps define us locally, nationally and globally. The importance we attach to our food and drink also reflects its significance to our health and wellbeing, environment and culture." Paul McLaughlin, chief executive of the leadership organisation Scotland Food & Drink, added: "We fully support the next steps in Scotland's national food and drink policy. Economic growth in this sector is vital to Scotland's recovery from recession and integral to improvement of the nation's public health and environmental sustainability."