Date :
09/09/2013
Access to Markets is delivered by industry leadership organisation Scotland Food and Drink and aims to build sales of Scottish food and drink and help businesses exploit new opportunities with UK retailers and across the food service sector.
The Access to Markets programme provides support to Scottish businesses to help develop their skills, grow their sales and achieve greater commercial success through a range of initiatives including Meet the Buyer, Learning Journeys, Supplier Development Programmes with trade as well as exhibitions to introduce producers to prospective customers.
Successes from the programme which began in 2009 include Forres based Macleans Highland Bakery which secured a national listing with Sainsbury's following recommendation from Access to Markets, and Simon Howie Foods from Perthshire which has recently been listed with Brakes.
The programme benefits a wide range of food and drink businesses across the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area and the rest of Scotland, offering a broad range of activities designed to provide relevant information, training and events and is available to any Scottish food and drink business with an aspiration to grow their sales in the UK.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise's Senior Development Manager, Iain Sutherland, said:
"The Access to Markets programme provides excellent opportunities for food and drink producers of all sizes. Sales opportunities are crucial to achieving the targets of individual operators in the food and drink industry and many firms lack the resources and the contacts to arrange face to face meetings with regional and national buyers.
"This programme is designed to help them develop and sustain lasting relationships and through it, we are delighted to support food and drink companies connect with key customers."
Plans were recently announced for the opening of a new Dobbies Garden World in Inverness and the search is on for local products to excite their shoppers. A Meet the Buyer event will be held on 12 September in Inverness following an online application and buyer selection process.
Other upcoming events include Meet the Buyers with Amazon (25 September) and Asda (16 October) as well as the Scotland, Land of Food and Dirnk pavilions at exhibitions Speciality Good Food Show in London (8-10 September) and BBC Good Food Show (18-20 October).