Download EXPERIENCING SCOTLAND Driving business though provenance

EXPERIENCING SCOTLAND
Driving business though provenance
Quarterly Update May 2012
Welcome to the latest Quarterly Update from Experiencing Scotland, the initiative which aims to help
tourism businesses and events get more Scottish and local produce onto their menus.
In this edition, find out how Experiencing Scotland has helped two Scottish tourism businesses to make
more of local produce, how the Kylesku Hotel in Sutherland is making a real selling point of its local food
& drink, and how Perthshire’s resort hotels are working together on a green initiative with food at its heart.
Case studies
Almond Valley Heritage Centre
Almond Valley attracts some 120,000 visitors annually, with milking,
feeding, talks and handling sessions throughout much of the year and
a programme of seasonal crafts, games and activities for children
during the school holidays.
The Centre has rolled out its popular ‘Morag’ brand to its menu,
marketing materials and website. A strong farm theme is also evident
in the children’s offer, which comprises animal-theme ‘munchboxes’
instead of lunch boxes and farm-themed party packs.
Experiencing Scotland consultant Sandra Reid says: “The branding clearly works well, however I feel
there is an opportunity to develop new products around it. For example, there could be significant benefits
in developing relationships with local suppliers and including regional produce on the menu to better
reflect the farm ethos. Where bacon and burgers are currently purchased from a national supplier,
purchasing from a local supplier could add value and drive quality”.
“Another route could be to make more use of the farm’s own produce. At present the catering facility has
occasional use of apples from the Charlesfield Orchard, root vegetables from the ‘wartime garden’ and
herbs from the herb garden. These all present opportunities for product development linked to site
interpretation and education, e.g. apple ‘specials’, wartime ‘specials’ and recipes using farm produce, and
use of herbs in soups and salads”.
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise
Crieff Hydro
The five-star Crieff Hydro has an excellent reputation as a family
resort, benefitting from a very loyal base of customers who have grown
with the hotel over several generations.
The food and beverage offer is extensive and includes: The Meikle
Restaurant, for breakfast service and formal evening dining; The
Brasserie, offering casual all day dining; The Winter Garden, where
guests can purchase all day coffee, cakes and snacks, plus The Hub
sports café and The Clubhouse, catering for activities enthusiasts.
There is a good approach to sourcing locally, with a number of small local suppliers on the books,
however Sandra Reid says: “My advice to the hotel was to focus the offers in each of the dining areas
more appropriately to the markets that use them. For example, there is a clear opportunity to market the
Meikle Restaurant as a premium dining area, showcasing Perthshire and Scottish produce. In The
Brasserie, local and Scottish items could be combined in a modern style with world food”.
“In the Winter Garden, a premium food range could be introduced, such as unit-produced sandwiches,
salads, and a deli sandwich offer with the chef on display, and an in-house range of cakes and pastries
could be developed. This area could then be given a farm shop or best of Perthshire theme”.
Read the full stories of how Almond Valley and Crieff Hydro are taking up the local produce challenge at
www.tourism-intelligence.co.uk
For further information on the Experiencing Scotland project and the 1-2-1 support available contact
Scottish Enterprise, Tel. 0845 607 8787 or email [email protected]
Your recipe for success
Eating out is an important part of everyone’s holiday experience, and we all have a part to play in helping
to increase the number of visitors who come to Scotland because of our food.
Read on for some top tips for business success….
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Make time to go around producers in your area and build
relationships. Know what is available and when. Find your local
suppliers online at www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org and try your
nearest farmers’ market.
Perhaps your local deli or butcher makes speciality pies that are
tastier or more cost effective than you can make in house. If so, tell
your visitors about the ‘award-winning’ recipes!
Are you using the famous food of your area as a hook for your
business? If a local provider has a great reputation for a certain
food, use it to promote your business.
Are you a food provider that could branch out into food tourism by showing how your food is
made? Or could your tourism business link up with a local food producer to let visitors see the
whole food process, from gate to plate?
Could your business partner up with like-minded businesses locally to create an exciting package
for visitors? Can you get involved with any existing food trails or regional initiatives?
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise
Tourism Intelligence Scotland’s ‘Food & Drink Experience in Scotland’ guide is packed with practical
insights, top tips and case studies that have been gathered from the industry. For more great ideas,
access the guide online at www.tourism-intelligence.co.uk
Kylesku Hotel – working in partnership with local suppliers
The Kylesku Hotel in Sutherland makes a real selling point of its local
food & drink, to the extent that there is a dedicated page on the hotel
website outlining details of all its local suppliers, right down to the
individual boats and fishermen that supply the renowned seafood which
appears on the menu!
Partner Tanja Lister says: “Food is the most important aspect of our
business, accounting for close to 50% of our income. Without a good
food offering, people wouldn't come and our occupancy would suffer
too”.
“We aim to source high quality local food that encapsulates the area we live in. The range of shellfish and
fish is an obvious choice, but we are also looking to work with local crofters, farmers and butchers this
year. For example, we are currently in discussion with local crofters about a small number of Hebridean
sheep, and a local farm who have Highland Mule mutton. As we work a lot with our daily specials, we can
easily work with small numbers. We are also working with the Achiltibuie Garden, who have set us up
growing our own microherbs and edible flowers”.
“I used to work for Waitrose for 12 years, and the whole philosophy of working hand in hand with
suppliers has always been important to me. There is a huge amount of interest out there about
provenance, and I find that by making this information available, it generates even more, often leading to
long discussions with our guests. We select our suppliers very carefully, and we're very proud of the
quality of our produce”.
Click here to find out more about how Kylesku promotes local provenance.
For more provenance tips, see the Scottish Government’s Provenance on a Plate toolkit.
Online fine foods store launched
Glasgow-based ‘Country Market’ has launched an online farmers
market offering a virtual greengrocer, butcher, cheesemonger and
fishmonger. The service aims to bring back the food parcel delivery
tradition to Scotland with a selection of fresh produce boxes.
The box range includes ‘Fruit and Vegetable boxes’ filled with
seasonal produce, monthly ‘Meat Boxes’, ‘Fish for the Fortnight’
packs, cheese boards and ‘Dinner Party Packs’.
Is this a service that self-catering operators and B&B owners could
find useful? www.countrymarketonline.com
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise
Are you event-ready?
A Scottish Government review of 2008 found that Scotland’s event sector
generated almost £1.5 billion in gross turnover and supported nearly 60,000
jobs.
Forecasts by the British Visitors and Events Partnership suggest that the
total value of the sector could grow by over 35% between 2010 and 2020.
Events therefore offer major opportunities to food and drink producers who
want to increase their sales, enhance their reputation, raise their profile and
attract new markets.
Now a new initiative from Scottish Enterprise - the Event Ready Producers
project - aims to encourage and assist food and drink companies to make
the most of the business opportunities.
A new ‘Ready for Events’ guide will provide food and drink producers with –
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Information on the business opportunities that events can offer.
Advice on how to work with events.
Examples of events, caterers and producers who have worked together to provide visitors with
the very best food and drink experiences.
Guidance on where to go for help and support to make the most of opportunities in the events
sector
Look out for more information coming to your inbox shortly.
Crail Food Festival launches YouTube video streaming
The second Crail Food Festival takes place from 15 – 17 June
2012.
Attracting some 2,000 visitors in its first year with a programme of
tastings, workshops and food-related events, this year the
organisers are aiming for a 20% increase in visitor numbers.
As part of the marketing drive, the team is embracing new
technology with enthusiasm! Regular Twitter feeds keep followers
updated with programme developments and a dedicated Facebook
page brings all the latest festival news direct to potential visitors.
This year, they are also making use of YouTube to reach a wider audience. The most recent post
features Graham Anderson of the Honeypot Guest House and Tearoom talking about how a visit to
Johnshaven inspired his dream to start the festival in the village of Crail.
Click here to watch the video and pick up some inspiration of your own!
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise
Tasty line up of foodie events at new Flavour Taster
A new addition to the events calendar in Dumfries & Galloway
took place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, to encourage
people to discover the region’s artisan food and drink produce
this spring.
Flavour Taster was developed by Savour the Flavours to give
visitors to Dumfries & Galloway a bite sized taste of the popular
autumn food festival Flavour Fortnight. Dumfries & Galloway is
increasingly becoming known as an artisan food destination and
the 39 events taking place during Flavour Taster gave visitors
the opportunity to connect with local produce and the people
who create it in a variety of ways.
Highlights included a lambing live experience, themed product tastings, a spring foraging day with
gourmet tasting menu, a Galloway Meze Experience, artisan bread workshops, farm tours, Meet the
Producer events and talks and demonstrations.
Flavour Fortnight, Dumfries & Galloway’s 16 day food festival including around 100 events, will take place
from 25th August to 9th September 2012. For more information go to www.flavourfortnight.co.uk .
Perthshire’s Green Resorts
Some of Perthshire’s top resort hotels are collaborating on a
‘green resorts’ initiative with local produce at its heart.
The Perthshire’s Green Resorts project, co-ordinated by Perth &
Kinross Council in partnership with the Green Tourism Business
Scheme, has seen the hotels sharing ideas about how their
respective businesses can become more sustainable, with a
view to attracting more visitors, driving down costs and making
operational improvements.
Recognising that sourcing and using local produce is integral to
running a greener operation, the hotels have an excellent range
of food-led and ‘grow your own’ initiatives.
At Duchally Country Resort in Auchterarder, many items are now grown on site in a polytunnel, a move
which has led to significant cost savings. In 2011, Duchally was entirely self sufficient in lettuce used
daily in salad dishes, while significant quantities of other items such as potatoes, tomatoes, onions and
herbs were also grown onsite. This year, salad items have had a staggered start to planting and more
herbs and soft fruits are being grown to help meet demand.
At the Gleneagles Hotel, florists grow organic grapes in the greenhouses, providing the kitchen team with
grapes for the fruit platters served daily throughout the resort during the fruiting season. Cultivated herbs,
including chocolate mint and lemon verbena, are also being used throughout the resort kitchens to
enhance the dishes on the menus.
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise
Crieff Hydro offers a BBQ Pack with the strap line ‘relax, we’ve done the packing’ for guests who are selfcatering, with 100% of the items being Perthshire-produced.
The Hilton Dunkeld House Hotel is assisting with the Dunkeld and Birnam Community Growing Project,
providing meeting space, labour and compost to support the initiative. The group is producing vegetables
and, in time, the hotel hopes to use some of these on its menus.
The gardens at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry feature a small orchard with some original fruit trees,
dating from 1880, which are still producing apples and Victoria plums and are being put to good use by
the kitchens. A herb and vegetable garden provides a useful extra source of quality produce for the chefs
on a daily basis, as well as a point of interest for hotel guests enjoying the garden.
In 2011 the hotel introduced a `Pick Your Own` experiment for guests in the self-catering lodges,
encouraging them to try peas and potatoes direct from the garden. This has been very positively
received, with guests enjoying the novelty of the experience together with the flavour and freshness of the
Pitlochry-grown vegetables.
Click here to view a film on the project.
Don’t miss out! Join the new Scotland Food & Drink Forum Network
On May 1st, the six LinkedIn regional Food & Drink forums amalgamated into one national LinkedIn group
called “Scotland Food & Drink Forum Network”.
The regional LinkedIn groups have formally closed and all new discussions and news will now be posted
on the new “Scotland Food & Drink Forum Network”.
In order to continue networking, sharing knowledge and doing business you’ll therefore need to join the
new group if you haven’t already done so.
To join, either click here or search LinkedIn for ‘Scotland Food & Drink Forum Network’.
Register for FREE updates from Experiencing Scotland
Experiencing Scotland offers a range of free communications designed to highlight the benefits of offering
Scottish food & drink. To register contact Scottish Enterprise, Tel: 0845 607 8787 or email
[email protected]
Experiencing Scotland is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise