Food & drink event potentially generated £77m in sales
SCOTLAND Food & Drink is thought to have helped raise over £70million for the nation’s food and drink sector at its latest event.
The Showcasing Scotland 2024 event saw Scottish food and drink manufacturers come together to meet with a host of buyers from across the globe to help encourage more international exports.
Humza Yousaf, first minister for Scotland, welcomed delegates to the event and said: “Our food and drink sector is a massive success story – it adds around £15billion each year to our economy, with more than 17,000 businesses employing almost 130,000 people.
“I want to see this sector growing in the years to come, and events like Showcasing Scotland are absolutely vital in helping to spread Scotland’s finest produce across the globe.”
Held in Edinburgh between 5-7 March, the event welcomed over 100 delegates from across the world to meet with buyers with 1,822 meetings conducted over the the course of the event.
As a result, 92% of Scottish manufacturers in attendance reported that doors had been opened into new markets for them with interested buyers from across the likes of Asia, North America, Europe and the rest of the UK.
It is thought the event has potentially helped to raise £77million across the sector with 37.5% of buyers stating they were ‘certain’ they would spend more on Scottish products with a further 62.5% saying they were ‘very likely’ to do so.
Iain Baxter, chief executive at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “Adding £77million to the pipeline of Scottish food and drink producers is an incredible result by any measure.
“We have a global reputation for the quality and variety of our food and drink, demonstrated by the buyers’ desire to buy more from us.
“We welcomed so many inspirational people from across the world, fostering new commercial links, and friendships that should pay dividends for some of Scotland’s best and most innovative producers.”
