Scotland Food & Drink and Think Local have come together to create 12 food and drink industry-focused themes to coincide with the Year of Food and Drink’s visitor-facing activities conducted by VisitScotland and EventScotland.
Why do we need your help? With a year of increased exposure for our food and drink industry, we not only need to showcase but also celebrate the produce Scotland has to offer. We have created a 12 month programme and would love to have you board to hold open days, tasting evenings, food trails, themed menus, pick your own or whatever inspires you – the list of opportunities is endless. We will support your event or activity with increased promotion and assistance wherever possible. From industry leaders holding an event for hundreds to small producers running activities in their local community, everyone’s participation will be greatly valued to reinforce Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink.
This Guide provides a guide for industry leaders and SMEs to actively engage with the themed months during Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink in 2015.
In 2015 the Year will sustain and build upon the momentum generated by Homecoming Scotland 2014 to inspire the people of Scotland and its visitors to celebrate Scotland’s outstanding natural larder.
The monthly themes
The following themes have been developed to focus on seasonality, industry development, provenance and reputation.
The intention is to gain as much industry support as possible to improve consumer messaging on seasonality and provenance.
| Month | Theme | Outline |
| January | Traditional Foods | Building on the New Year traditions of steak pie and shortbread, through to Burns’ Night with haggis |
| February | The Food of Love | Foods associated with Valentine’s Day including oysters, other seafood, steak and chocolates. |
| March | Brewing & Distilling | Celebrating Scottish beers and spirits (gin, vodka, liqueurs) |
| April | Award Winning Food | Focus on Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards entries and previous winners |
| May | Whisky Month | Retained focus on whisky as in previous years |
| June | The Future of Food | Highlighting youth development including RHS and end of school year, with focus on skills and innovation |
| July | Summer Berries & Fruits | Particular promotion of berries and Pick Your Own |
| August | Delicious Dairy | Yoghurts & ice cream; cream; milk, butter & cheeses |
| September | Celebration | Building on Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight, events and products that celebrate provenance and the produce on our doorstep |
| October | Sustainable Shores | A focus on fishing, seafood and salmon with a sustainability at its core |
| November | Hearty & Heartwarming | Especially meat dishes, vegetables and grains (including barley, oats and rapeseed) and broths and stews |
| December | Grand Finale | Premium foods for Christmas including cheeses, relishes and pate |
This presents a fantastic opportunity to own and deliver activities across whichever month or months appeal. There is plenty of flexibility to work around the themes to suit. This may mean either driving the agenda for a particular month or simply getting involved in whatever way meets the needs of your organisation or business.
How do you get involved?
Theme Representatives
We are looking for industry leaders to act as theme representatives and take the lead on a month. This could entail, for example:
- Leading delivery of a monthly theme, supported by other businesses
- Delivering product related activities at various points throughout the year e.g. Burns Night, Christmas, Valentines, Whisky Month
- Supporting or delivering an event within one of the themed months
- Delivering a campaign within one of the themes e.g. Scotch Lamb for St Andrews Night, Seafood for Valentines, Pick Your Own berries in July
- Aligning existing activities to promote seasonality and availability
- Focusing on Below-the-Line promotion to boost sales
For more information or to register your interest as a theme representative please contact fiona.richmond@scotlandfoodanddrink.org or patrick.hughes@sac.co.uk