Scotland’s thriving food and drink industry is poised for five more years of strong growth, creating 14,000 extra jobs, a new report says.
Producers are on course to deliver a 19% increase in turnover on average between now and 2020, according to Bank of Scotland (BoS).
The sector’s success in the coming years will help to cement it as one of Scotland’s key economic contributors, it adds.
BoS’s report – Fresh Opportunity & Growth – comes just as Scottish food and drink firms get ready to promote their products during a four-day Scottish showcase at Expo Milano in Italy next month.
It also coincides with a flurry of visits to some of this country’s most innovative producers by rival politicians.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell was at Inshriach Distillery in Aviemore yesterday, championing gin-making, while Fair Work Secretary and SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham was in Shetland toasting the achievements of Lerwick Brewery.
Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig dropped in on local firm Caber Coffee to hear about its recent investment and expansion plans.
BoS research found innovation high on the agenda among Scottish food and drink firms, with almost two-thirds (62%) planning to develop new products.
Three in five (62%) said they hoped to secure new international customers in the next five years, while four in five (78%) had benefited from brand Scotland’s strong reputation overseas.
Two thirds (66%) were planning to create new roles in the next five years, which if replicated across Scotland could mean more than 14,000 new jobs by 2020.
Job creation was cited by 46% of survey respondents as a way of generating growth.
Four in five (79%) of the firms targeting new markets said they would undertake new product development and/or packaging redesign to help them achieve their goal.
Western Europe is top of the hit list for new sales, followed by North America, the Middle East and then other parts of Asia.
The report also highlights big challenges for the industry, including increasing regulation and compliance, a possible exit from the European Union and rising labour costs.
“Scottish food and drink manufacturers of all sizes are making ambitious plans for significant growth,” Graham Blair, area director and head of food and drink, BoS, said last night.
He added: “The food and drink sector has a significant impact on Scotland’s gross value added (measure of economic growth) and this year’s report gives every indication that this input will become even stronger.”
Visiting Inshriach Distillery, the home of Crossbill gin in Aviemore, Mr Mundell highlighted both the UK Government’s ambition to more than double gin exports and measures to support an industry already worth £1.76billion a year.
Ms Cunningham said her visit to Lerwick Brewery confirmed the future of beer-making in Shetland was in “safe hands”, while Mr McCaig said Caber Coffee’s investment in new premises and plans to take on more staff were an “example of what our city needs more of”.