Thirteen food, drink and agricultural businesses from across Scotland have been awarded grants worth almost £3.5million through the Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation grant scheme.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced the funding during a visit to Kettle Produce in Cupar, Fife, yesterday.
The vegetable packing business received £279,000 through the scheme to construct a new complex for short and long-term cold storage for 4,500 tonnes of swede, carrot, pointed cabbage, cauliflower, kale and courgettes.
Ms Cunningham said the funding would “support sustainable co-operation and collaboration from primary production and processing to the market” for the 13 businesses.
Other recipients of funding include Turriff-based vegetable growing business Maxwell Farms Limited which secured just under £635,000 for a washing, grading, overwrapping and retail packing facility.
The Coleburn Distillery in Elgin was granted just over £246,000 to create a new boutique distillery at its existing site, while Grantown-on-Spey-based meat processor Millers of speyside has been given £83,660 to purchase and install and on-site incinerator plant and a stunning box for its cattle and pig line.
The Scottish Islands Abattoir Association has been awarded £43,300 to fund a feasibility study to consider how the economic sustainability of the islands’ abattoirs could be ensured and their levels of operation improved and increased.
Angus-based vegetable growing enterprise McDonald Agri was awarded just under £168,000 for the construction of a packhouse and various processing equipment, while Perthshire-based Simon Howie Butchers has been given more than £206,000 for the construction of a dry goods store, engineering support facility, a cold store with blast freezing and a centralised packing room.
Stirlingshire-based Katy Rodger’s Artisan Dairy secured just over £16,000 for the purchase and installation of an external walk-in fridge and freezer, a commercial fruit cooking machine and a pot filler and conveyor.