Scottish Food and Drink Export Collaboration Charter launches

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and Scotland Food and Drink, together with Scottish Development International, plan to work together to help Scotland meet its target of increasing the level of food and drink exports from its current level of £5.1billion to £7.1billion by 2017.

The new Charter agrees ten commitments that encourage the sharing of best export practice, knowledge, and networks across the Scottish food and drink sector, building on the lessons learned by the Scotch Whisky industry as it successfully developed markets around the world.

The partnership will have a key role to play in helping Scotland reach its ambition of increasing exports from the current level of £5.1 billion to £7.1bn by 2017.

It will aim to build on Scotland’s international reputation as a Land of Food and Drink, from salmon to seafood to dairy and meat

The Export Collaboration Charter will:

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment Richard Lochhead said: “As we near the end of the Year of Food and Drink, it is appropriate that we look towards the future. I welcome this Export Collaboration Charter from the Scotch Whisky Association and Scotland Food & Drink, which can help deliver even greater future success for Scottish food and drink companies looking to sell across the globe.

“It’s great that the SWA is showing its commitment to the food sector, as well as whisky, and I believe today’s Charter will potentially be a game-changer. Working together can lead to great things and I am confident that this collaboration will play a crucial role in helping the industry grow in strength and stature internationally.”

David Frost, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive, said: “Scotch Whisky is exported to almost 200 countries, generating around £4 billion a year. We want to help Scottish food and drink sectors learn from the success of Scotch - the country’s leading single product export - and this new collaboration shows our commitment to working with food and drink exporters to deliver growth for Scotland.

“Scotch represents around 80 per cent of Scottish food and drink exports. Our export growth has been based on long-term thinking on trade issues, a focus on opening markets through close collaboration with governments and the EU, and collaboration at industry level. We hope to help other sectors do the same. In addition, export success for other food and drink sectors will build on Scotland’s growing reputation for premium products that can only be good news for the growth of Scotch Whisky.”

James Withers, Scotland Food & Drink chief executive, said: “When we launched our new food and drink export strategy, we explicitly prioritised working more collaboratively with partners and learning from Scotch Whisky’s success. This Charter delivers on that and will allow it to happen in a deeper way than we’ve seen before.”

Scottish Development International’s head of food & drink Susan Beattie, said: ” This Charter will help even more of Scotland’s food and drinks products break into new markets abroad while re-investing back into the country the insights and knowledge already gained from developing Scotch Whisky into a global leader.”