The major Scottish food organisation, Scotland Food and Drink (SF&D), have recently revealed ambitious new growth targets for the food industry, with the ultimate aim of making Scotland 'A Land of Food and Drink'. The new targets outline SF&D's plans to grow the food industry to £12.5 billion by the year 2017, an increase on the original target of £10 billion. It is believed that these new targets aim to take Scotland out of the recession, boost employment and food jobs, and make Scotland a competitor in global food markets.
These ambitious plans rely on the full support of every sector in the food industry and hinge on a few main factors, including provenance, premium and health. SF&D have also announced the backing of three new sectors: agriculture, aquaculture and fishing. To include them in the targets in such a prominent way seems to be a direct response to government concerns over food production in the future.
Focusing on sustainable production of larger amounts of food is an endeavour which would involve new specialist education and training for those already working within these fields, and the opening up of new technical, scientific and other food jobs in order to expand these sectors.
Leave a comment