A plan to boost food and drink spending by visitors to Scotland has been welcomed by trade association Scottish Bakers.
Chief executive Alasdair Smith said the association is ‘delighted with’ the initiative to double visitor’s food and drink spend by 2030 as part of its food tourism plan.
The industry-led strategy, launched this week, sets out a range of actions to develop Scotland’s food and drink sector.
Backed by Scottish government, it will aim to add £1bn to Scotland’s economy by 2030, taking the total food and drink spend to £2bn. The plan includes the launch of a national food tourism website and a food tourism apprenticeship programme.
Smith said: “We at Scottish Bakers are delighted with the new, nationwide food tourism strategy.
We understand the plan includes the creation of a food tourism apprenticeship programme, which we fully support. Nurturing new talent is a great way to create thriving businesses and to up-skill a sector.”
The plan also entails a ‘Taste Our Best’ quality assurance accreditation scheme that will reward the top 100 visitor attractions in the food and drink industry.
Smith added: “We look forward to seeing the detail behind the promised boost to marketing for food and drink tourism, and the Taste Our Best initiative, to enable our members to best engage with the programme in all its aspects.
“We would urge the Scottish Government to ensure they reach out to smaller, already established and more regional food and drink producers, such as local high street bakers, to really make this initiative a ‘root and branch’ success.”
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