Scotland is often misunderstood by the general public when it comes to fruit and vegetable production. Many believe that the rural nature of the country makes for difficult logistics and the northern position of the land an unlikely place for fresh produce. But the facts are that Scotland is home to many a soft fruit plantation, provides early season root vegetables and a solid production of herbs and leafy salads through the many microclimates that exist in the various counties. Way up in the Highlands, to take one example, you’ll find garlic, strawberries and potatoes, whereas in around Perthshire and Fife raspberries have been grown outdoors for more than 100 years because of the unique light levels the area receives.
Furthermore routes to market are in place. The country is vast and secluded in parts, but the supply chain to supermarkets is well established, and a thriving wholesale market in Glasgow with strong links to Edinburgh, Bristol and London is working to serve independent retail and the foodservice industry. This month CJ Lang & Son Ltd bought AM Landsburgh (St Andrews) Ltd, which ran 10 Spar convenience stores throughout Scotland, a move that Scott Malcolm, managing director of CJ Lang & Son Ltd describes as great for Spar Scotland and says that further investment is now on the cards.
Passion
And people are passionate about new ventures, products and modes of trading. You’ve just got to look at companies that have taken steps and diversified in the face of ruin. Scotherbs started life as a dairy farm until a herb garden gave real inspiration at a time when milk returns nosedived and one man took a risk on a very niche crop in the early 1980s to result in a 350,000 pack a week business to the multiples throughout the British Isles. Similarly, the husband and wife couple Glen and Gillian Allingham, behind The Really Garlicky Company, decided to concentrate on one product to survive as growers and add value to their product in the late 1990s. The company now supplies Waitrose with garlic and has a major following from consumers due in part to its continued presence at food shows throughout the UK.
And other company that has excelled is Stewarts of Tayside. Another long-standing family firm, the producer has managed to combine a summertime favourite and winner on the banks of the River Tay, with strawberry, raspberry and swede production ensuring year round success. The business even caught the eye of the industry this year by winning the Vegetable Grower of the Year and the overall award for Grower of the Year - Edibles, at February’s Grower of the Year Awards.
Newcomers are also grabbing attention. Stirfresh, a subsidiary of Stirling Potatoes, based in Angus, has decided to take its businesses forward into the prepared fresh-cut arena. Stirfresh now acts as a hub for neighbouring growers as an outlet for their potatoes and vegetables. The business is now focusing on the ever-growing and commercially influential farmers’ and outdoor retail markets in Scotland with a ready-to-cook soup mix.
Environmentally, the country is also making leaps and bounds forward with a food waste recycling facility and an anaerobic digester as part of Scottish Water’s government-funded Horizons project in Edinburgh, and individual composting industrial units are in abundance as part of facilities like Glasgow’s Wholesale Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Market, which is experiencing a substantial redevelopment.
This kind of forward thinking is placing Scotland’s fresh produce industry in an advantageous position in a changing climate. Some believe that Scotland will be well placed to feed the UK when global warming takes full effect and cropping patterns change indefinitely all over the world.
Support
“We get a lot of stick about growing produce in Scotland,” says Scotherb’s owner Robert Wilson, who believes that niche products lead a business, as demonstrated by Scotherb’s move into edible flowers several years ago. “There are a lot of places that you wouldn’t cultivate on, but this area in Dundee has the highest sunshine rate in Scotland and the lowest humidity. We tend to be about a week later in spring and a week early in the winter. Irrigation is needed but not to any extreme and our motto is ‘yes, we’ll give it a go’.
“I believe that Scotland will be the food basket of Great Britain in 20 years’ time, when water becomes a premium down south and the weather becomes more extreme. We are extending our growing seasons and using renewable energy; Scotland will become very important to the fresh produce industry.”
The multiples also seem to be supportive. Tesco’s Scotland office is known for being proactive when it comes to local sourcing and providing provenance. In general, Scottish consumers appear to be especially patriotic when it comes to their food and it shows through their buying patterns.
“The fact that produce is grown in Scotland really makes a difference,” says Scotherbs’ general manager Jason Togher, who has lived in Scotland and been with the company for four years. “People do shop differently here. For example, when you’re in a supermarket, you see shoppers actually exchanging a pack of eggs for instance that are already in their trolleys for eggs that have been laid in Scotland that may cost more.”
Andrew Stirling of Stirfresh is all for the local push, but believes that growers and suppliers should work together to make more of the domestic market, while being respectful of the main English market. “Scottish suppliers have to be careful because England is where the population is,” he shares. “We don’t want the Scottish marque working against us. Also there is a certain degree of nationalism here, but you can’t get away from price. Why are we paying less for our core produce?
“Fuel prices and logistics are real problems now. We have been able to stand up to rising costs because of our variety of customers. We do need to make sure that we reinvest in our own Scottish economy too, though. The Scottish government is helping, which is very important, but a lot of the tenders for schools and hospitals, which we do, have to go through the EU and Brussels. We also get a lot of support from NFU Scotland and we became a member last year.”
Stirfresh’s latest venture has received a great deal of support from the Scottish government, through the Food Processing Marketing and
Co-operation Grant Scheme. The company achieved the grant two years ago to create a purpose-built preparation facility and packhouse to produce peeled and fresh-cut potatoes and vegetables for the foodservice industry mainly, with an aim of supplying the retail industry as well.
The grant matched the amount of money the business was able to put forward to the project itself. “We are just going into the third year of the project now: it wasn’t easy as there were lots of forms to fill in, but we are allowed to run our business at the same time due to the staggered nature of the build and the period in which we had to spend our part of the money has been flexible.”
GROWING ON TRADITION
Blairgowrie-based soft-fruit business Thomas Thomson Ltd has been growing raspberries for more than 100 years on the slopes of Perthshire, but now the business concentrates on its strawberry offer, with only 30 acres of 200 belonging to raspberry canes today.
“Innovation is the key,” says Simon Harris, farm manager at Thomas Thomson. “We follow the marketplace because you have to, but we continue to trial raspberry varieties for the multiples to see if it will be popular and cost effective. We really have to balance between the cost of labour and returns here.
“This used to be the place to grow raspberries because of the bright climate but it has reduced dramatically as we are not able to make the money from them any more. We also used to supply a thriving jam industry but with so much fresh around throughout the year, it’s not as popular.”
Strawberries are now the main star, taking up 90 acres in polytunnels. “Jubilee is our premium variety and we are very lucky to be one of the two growers that have the Driscoll’s licence in Scotland,” says Harris. “Last year was difficult; the weather in Scotland and England combined to make a huge spike of product in the market. In Scotland we had a hard winter and so frost damage was regular and product was late, but English was early. We missed out on our early crop prices, as did English growers. Compared to last year, the weather now is mild, so we shouldn’t get this situation again.”
Thomas Thomson also produces up to 30 acres of blueberries and some late season cherries. “The blueberry market is expanding hugely and we also have a very small amount of redcurrants,” says Harris. “It’s important to move with the marketplace.”
SWEDE SUCCESS FOR GROWER OF THE YEAR
Swede and soft fruit are our speciality, says Henry Bredin, sales manager at Grower of the Year 2011 winner Stewarts of Tayside in Perth. We started out specialising in swede and then added soft fruit to the business to complement the main winter swede crop.
It’s a real family concern, with Jim and Mary Stewart establishing the firm in 1975 and now with brother William, nephew Liam and myself - son-in-law - joining over the past 15 years.
We grow around 900 hectares of swede and 80ha of strawberries and raspberries. There is a great history surrounding soft-fruit cultivation in this area, so it seemed like the right decision to take on these crops in the summer to allow us to continually maximise the use of our infrastructure.
Our strawberry season begins at the end of May/beginning of June. We use two main methods of production; tabletop and raised beds, both of which are grown in polytunnels. The majority of our strawberry production is from the Elsanta, Sonata and Everbearer varieties.
Swede is grown all over the UK and Scotland, from the south of England to the highest point of Scotland. It is a field crop that is harvested from July to April and can be stored during May and June for a 52 week supply. We supply an entirely UK-grown crop, growing from Kent to Aberdeen. For both crops, we have suffered with the worst two winters since the 1920s, but we have learnt a lot and have coped considerably well, learning and preparing for the next year.
The climate here is perfect for growing swede. We achieve a good hardy product with a nice finish, but most importantly it’s consistent. We have cooler temperatures to lift and store, and we get the product to the end customer as soon as possible.
About 10 years ago we made the decision to start our own haulage business to offer our customers the level of service we really wanted to provide. Now we are calling the shots on that score and it has made a good deal of difference for the better. There are so many things that are out of your control in this industry, so it is best to be in charge of the issues you can control.
PUSHING AHEAD IN GLASGOW
Glasgow’s Wholesale Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Market is undergoing something of a transformation and bucking the wholesale trend in Scotland to make the market a place to be in the future. With the likes of Edinburgh wholesale market going by the wayside, Glasgow’s wholesale offer is now the only traditional wholesale market in Scotland, but it’s certainly coming into its own.
After 15 years of speculation, monthly leases and determination on the side of the traders and City Market Glasgow LLP’s managing director Graham Wallace, the 70-company strong market is being refurbished.
The £6m project started in January 2010 and will finish this June, leaving the market with a refurbished roof, external cladding, refurbished offices with window panelling, new lighting, resurfaced yard area, a non-slip buyers’ walk and new décor.
“The new lighting has made a big difference,” says Wallace, who is now looking towards tenants having more long-term leases for the good of the businesses on the market. “Not only to the physical atmosphere but the attitude as well. It has brightened up the whole facility and people have faith in the industry again. People seem to have a new faith in the council.
“We are the only wholesale market in Scotland, so we have to continue to fly the flag. We have great plans for this place and it involves all of the fruit and vegetable wholesalers.”
City Market Glasgow LLP plans to rebrand the wholesale market and launch an ongoing improvement scheme. “This has been a long process in getting organised and financed, and now the refurbishment is coming to an end we can be more focused.”
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