Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, founder of the Genius gluten-free brand, has been appointed to the board of Scotland Food & Drink

Joining the trade body alongside Bruce-Gardyne is Alison Milne, a partner in a family farming business. They will shape development and industry strategy as Scotland Food & Drink aims to grow the Scottish food industry to £30bn by 2030.

Bruce-Gardyne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017 and is part of the Enterprise Fellowship Panel.

Scotland Food & drink said Bruce-Gardyne champions innovation, entrepreneurial thinking and academic collaboration through her business, directorship at The Scale Up Institute and Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.

“Lucinda and Alison are exciting additions to our board. They will be central to our work to deliver further growth and collaboration in our food and drink sector; an industry that is now one of the star performers in Scotland’s economy,” said Dennis Overton OBE, co-founder of sustainable seafood business Aquascot and chairman of the board.

Milne has experience in agriculture and the wider food and drink supply chain. She is currently a partner in the A Milne & Son family farming business, which recently launched a malting venture, Crafty Maltsters.

In June 2017, Milne was appointed co-chair of the National Council of Rural Advisors. She is also a member of the Scottish Government’s Future of Food and Farming Group and the Brewing Industry Leadership Group.

Gardyne and Milne will join 10 members of the Scotland Food & Drink Board next month. They are appointed for an initial term of three years and will be succeeding Gareth Baird and Geoff Bruce, who retired earlier this year.

Genius restructured its business two years ago to shift its focus away from its own-label supply.