Scotland’s food and drink industry is something we should be very proud of and I reckon it has the potential to become our most valuable asset.
We’re definitely taking all the right steps to make it our flagship business sector.
Two elements that should always be at the core of developing any industry are the support of young entrepreneurs and the nurture of good ideas.
And a competition launched by Edinburgh agency Guy & Co made me very aware that people agree with that.
The organisation is encouraging Scottish entrepreneurs and food and drink businesses with new product ideas in development to apply for a ‘go-to-market’ prize pot worth £65k.
It’s a good amount of money and will help give an exciting new product the push to market that it needs.
This is a fantastic concept and I hope more businesses follow suit. It should generate some healthy rivalry amongst businesses and give start-ups and entrepreneurs a platform for growth.
Competition is always healthy in business. It gets you thinking about what the opposition are doing, showcases best practice, and inspires you to do it better.
Industry bodies help inspire and guide too.
Scotland Food & Drink is going to be instrumental in seeing the industry grow and develop over the next decade or so.
Just last year, the organisation launched the Ambition 2030 strategy which aims to double the value of the industry to £30bn by 2030 by growing markets, developing capabilities and focusing on our behaviours.
Yes, it’s ambitious but if we reach the target, Scotland will be recognised as a world leader in responsible and profitable growth, and an attractive option for overseas collaborations, partnerships and trade deals.
Scotland Food & Drink also hosts its own annual Excellence Awards and the newly introduced innovation category is a fantastic springboard for new talent.
Every product has to start somewhere. Some of Scotland’s best-loved products are so iconic that it’s hard to believe they started from humble beginnings – just look at A.G. Barr, Tunnock’s, BrewDog and Baxters.
Scotland certainly has the potential to be home to more successful brands and it all starts from a great idea.
As I have experienced first-hand, there is always an element of risk in launching a new business venture and it doesn’t always pay off. You think you have great concept but it just doesn’t quite work. But that’s it – sometimes the most bizarre ideas can be the biggest successes.
One unique creation I read about recently certainly is a first for Scotland and I’m sure it’s a bit too left-field for some.
An imaginative hotelier in Argyll has created a recipe that sees burger patties rolled in a coating of MIDGES.
Yes, you read it right.
The burgers are rolled in the crushed flies—and other ingredients—placed on a bun and served with chips.
Hotel owner David Keat, the mastermind behind the dish, is convinced it will go down a storm, arguing that eating insects has become more mainstream in recent years and that midges are an endless supply of protein.
I know flexitarianism has become a buzzword recently—with people opting for plant-based meals through the week and a steak dinner at the weekend—but midges on my dinner plate? I’m not so sure.
But who knows? This could become a national delicacy. We certainly have the base ingredient in plentiful supply, with an estimated 69 billion midges appearing over the summer season.
It just might work. After all, who would have thought that eating spiced sheep intestines or a battered chocolate bar would prove so popular?
If it’s going to help make the food and drink industry the centrepiece of our economy—which I think it definitely has the potential to be—I’m all for it.
Like thousands of people across the UK, I watched in disbelief as footage of the Glasgow School of Art up in flames spread across social media.
The iconic building was gutted by a massive blaze for the second time in just over four years—and this time around, it looks like the damage is much worse.
It’s awful to see it in ruins but we must be thankful that no one was hurt in the blaze.
According to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Mackintosh exhibits brought more than one million visitors into the city in 2017, and with the 150th anniversary of the artist being celebrated this year, local businesses have been enjoying the renewed interest in one of Glasgow’s most famous names.
With rebuilding estimates for the GSOA slowly coming in—and some running into hundreds of millions—should city leaders sign off the figures and start the restoration process again?
Before we take the next step, I think the managers in charge of the £35m renovation, and the building company brought in to recreate Mackintosh’s vision, will have to be prepared to answer some serious questions.
One fire is unfortunate, two in four years is unthinkable.
There is no doubt that the GSOA is a draw for tourists visiting the city but costs may just be a step too far this time.
Those involved in maintaining our national treasures and tourist attractions must look at this as a wake-up call. Investing in landmarks that bring jobs and money into the local community must be a priority.
It will be interesting to see how Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government take things forward after this hammer blow to the city.
With businesses on Sauchiehall Street already struggling in the aftermath due to road closures, decisions need to be made—and quickly.
Laugh
As World Cup fever takes hold, it’s been great to hear stories about psychic animals and their match predictions.
The mystic menagerie has been with us every four years—we had Paul the psychic German octopus in 2010 and Russia’s very own furry soothsayer, Achilles the deaf cat, this year.
But it’s Scotland’s representation that I’m enjoying the most. Jack the Common Marmoset—a mystic marsupial who lives in Scotland’s only indoor tropical rainforest in Amazonia—has a 100 per cent record so far.
OK, so he’s only predicted the results of one game…but he got it spot on.
I expect to see bookmakers and punters flocking to M&D’s at Strathclyde Country Park to see who Jack picks for the final.
Weep
With Scotland continuing its good work to shake its hard-drinking stereotype, I was saddened to see that alcohol-related admissions to hospitals in 2017 were 4.4 times higher than they were in the 1980s.
Figures released in Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy Monitoring Report, revealed that 22 deaths occur each week due to alcohol—a statistic I’d hoped would have been consigned to the past.
More Scots are listening to health messaging and adhering to recommended drinking guidelines provided by NHS Scotland but it’s clear that much more has to be done.
With the introduction of the Scottish Government’s controversial minimum unit pricing policy, Scottish retailers are now involved in helping to discourage binge drinking.
Let’s hope we see a reduction in these needless deaths.
