Fruit & Veg 19 Organic winter vegetables

Four vegetable suppliers have received grants as part of a £3.5 million boost to food and drink producers across Scotland.

Kettle Produce received a £279,000 Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation grant from the Scottish Government to construct storage facilities for 4,500 tonnes of salads, brassicas and root vegetables.

Two further vegetable processing companies, W&R Logan Partnership and McDonald Agri, were awarded £245,000 and £167,998 respectively to invest in their packhouses, wrapping and processing equipment.

And in the north east, Maxwell farms from Aberdeenshire received £634,783 for washing, grading, packing and overwrapping facilities for its root vegetable business.

The grants come as a promotion for the diversification and expansion of the Scottish food and drink industry, outlined by environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham as “a cornerstone of our economy, environment and culture.”

She stressed the importance of £3.5 million funding in supporting “sustainable co-operation and collaboration from primary production and processing to the market, so industry can continue to flourish.”