SF&D’s Lucy Husband reckons Scotland means quality
RETAILERS know that customer perception can make or break a sale, as quality and value for money continue to be top priorities for price-conscious consumers.
And if quality is what customers are after, then retailers might want to get on board with Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight, as Lucy Husband, UK market development director at Scotland Food & Drink explained.
“The Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight is very much about celebrating, as well as getting people to commit to doing more with Scottish products,” she said.
In Husband’s view, there are plenty of reasons for independent retailers to get behind the event, with new research commissioned by Scotland Food and Drink suggesting the saltire flag is about as good as it gets when it comes to signalling quality.
Husband revealed that of the 1000 Scottish consumers surveyed for the research, 66% said availability of local products was of great importance to them.
“If you think about all the different labels and flags on products, 71% of Scottish respondents said they believed products labelled as Scottish were better quality than non-labelled ones, this compares to products labelled as British which only 46% of Scots believed to be better quality.
“They see it as a sign of quality and of importance to the economy,” she said.
By category, Husband highlighted the enhanced perception that Scottish branding can offer a number of store staples.
“As far as stats are concerned, whisky, beef and salmon have fantastic high perception numbers.
“Scotch beef is a globally recognised brand, there’s no one in Scotland that doesn’t understand what Scotch beef stands for,” she said.
“There has been so much fantastic work done on quality Scottish product that’s proven to be successful.”
That quality doesn’t just mean volume sales, Husband said it can also encourage purchase at a higher price point according to Scotland Food & Drink’s research.
“Over 50% of Scottish consumers are prepared to pay between 10-30% more for a Scottish product and that’s an enormous opportunity,” she said.
Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight 2018 takes place between Saturday 1 September and Sunday 16 September.
