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5 March 2021
Dear Members, 

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

After five weeks in post, I am gradually finding my feet although it's unfortunate that due to the current restrictions I am not able to meet you in person and understand your needs. However, I do hope that as we move out of lockdown that will be possible and I look forward to being able to do this. 

Our BID renewal process took a formal turn this week as our proposal had its first in-depth scrutiny. I'm pleased to say it came out fairly unscathed and our focus of attention now turns back to the detail of the paperwork required by the BID legislation. I will give an update to you at the AGM in a couple of weeks time specifically on where we are in the process and timescales. 

This is quite a short newsletter this week and my intention is that we will send one out every fortnight unless there is urgent and important news in which case we will send an exceptional update for you.

Have a lovely weekend - best wishes

Karen 
Annual General Meeting - 18 March 2021
The date of the Annual General Meeting has been set for 18th March 2021 at 4pm

James Withers, CEO of Scotland Food and Drink will give an update on the recovery plan and will take your questions.

Please register in advance for this meeting via the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

East Lothian Food and Drink AGM 

Please email your questions in advance to info@scotlandsfooddrinkcounty.com 
New tool to help drive Net Zero

Industry leadership body, Scotland Food & Drink has launched it’s ‘Greening Your Business A Practical Guide for Food and Drink SMEs’ to provide practical support for SMEs in greening their businesses.

The toolkit outlines the pivotal role Scotland’s food and drink industry has to play in reducing carbon emissions and helping reach the Scottish Government’s target of net zero by 2045.

The need to tackle the climate emergency is now well-understood, so too the urgency of the task. While tackling the climate emergency is vital, it is important the sector is equipped to do so in a way which is positive for businesses.

Produced by the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership with support from the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland, the toolkit is designed to provide practical support to help food and drink businesses reduce their carbon footprint while still improving their bottom line.

The Greening Your Business toolkit is being launched as one of fifty action points of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Recovery Plan to fuel an agile recovery from Coronavirus and weather Brexit, supported by the Scottish Government.

Within the toolkit, businesses can find small changes to get started, long term ideas for making processes more efficient, sign posting for funding and one-to-one advice, and guidance on new legislation.

To access the toolkit, please visit: https://foodanddrink.scot/resources/toolkits/greening-your-business/

Till-less store opens in London

Visitors to Amazon Fresh scan a smartphone app when entering and are automatically billed as they leave.

The store stocks hundreds of own-brand items as well as third-party products, and also serves as a place to collect and return goods bought online.

Campaigners have raised privacy concerns but one retail expert said the opening marked a "watershed moment".

"Having a physical presence will enable Amazon to address some of its weaknesses, like the mounting cost of deliveries and returns," said Natalie Berg, an analyst with NBK Retail.

See Amazon Fresh in action via BBC News Amazon Fresh till-less grocery store opens in London - BBC News

New campaign to support Scotland's food and drink products

A new campaign celebrating the wide range of produce grown and made in Scotland has been launched with the help of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ winner, Peter Sawkins.

‘Scotland brings so much to the table’, a joint campaign by the Scottish Government and the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership, encourages shoppers to explore Scotland’s vast natural larder and try more of the world renowned produce available on our doorstep. 

The campaign, which has a dedicated website onthetable.scot for people to find out how they can get involved, forms part of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership Recovery Plan to support the industry to recover from coronavirus (COVID-19) and Brexit. 

With fewer opportunities to eat out over the past year, more people have been cooking meals at home from scratch - but many aren’t actually aware of how our shopping habits can directly benefit the Scottish food and drink industry.

Lots of supermarkets, local retailers, farmers’ markets and online delivery sites stock a huge range and selection of affordable, health, locally grown, made and sourced Scottish produce that the campaign encourages people to try more of.

A recent survey carried out by the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership[i], revealed that there has been an increase in people who have bought more locally sourced foods since the start of the pandemic. The survey revealed that of those adults in Scotland who are red meat buyers, 14% started to buy local or bought more local red meat since the start of COVID-19 pandemic and 17% of adults started to buy or bought more locally grown and sourced vegetables.  

The research also showed that people who were buying more locally sourced products did so to show support to local farmers and producers, knowing that they were helping the local economy. They also felt the products would be fresher and of greater quality.

Peter Sawkins uses and champions Scottish products in his cooking and baking every day and is encouraging us all to follow suit.

Defra publish new paper on food and drink labelling

Defra have published a new FAQ on food labelling on their Dropbox.

The document includes advice on topics such as: giving food information to consumers, food labelling & country of origin, and details around labelling for food packaging.

The document can be downloaded from this link.

Food and drink businesses: working with the EU – Dropbox Paper


Please let us know if you are unable to access this link and we can email the FAQ to you directly.

Your next newsletter will be emailed on 19 March 2021
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