The Scottish Government encouraged applications for funding from projects which celebrate Scotland’s local sourced and produced food and drink, which is “some of the finest in the world”. The Regional Food Fund, which seeks to support Scotland’s food and drink sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic through £110,000 of Scottish Government funding, will provide grants of up to £5000 to applicants across the nation.
The fund specifically pertains to collaborative projects, and can be applied for by individual businesses in the food and drink sector – including primary producers, or on behalf of a collaborative group or project – as well as rural or urban community groups, or individuals on behalf of a collaborative project. Last year, the fund helped support 42 projects, including regional food group producers in Argyll & Bute and the Bowhouse market in Fife.
Commenting, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Island Mairi Gougeon said: “This government is committed to supporting and promoting Scotland’s local produce, which is some of the finest in the world. “I would encourage eligible groups and businesses to apply for this year’s Regional Food Fund. Since its launch in 2018, the Regional Food Fund has provided over £550,000 to 121 projects, and this additional funding will support many more projects and initiatives.”
Fiona Richmond, head of regional food at Scotland Food & Drink, added: “The Regional Food Fund has already played an important role in promoting food and drink in local communities and delivering benefits to Scotland’s local food and drink sector over the long-term. “It’s great to see the fund reopen and continuing to promote and encourage great local food initiatives by supporting regional activities, networks and collaborative initiatives across the country.”
Examples
Two Edinburgh and Lothian initiatives receive funding support. Rosewell Farmers’ Market established a regular Farmers’ Market at the Steading, Rosewell, featuring high quality, locally grown or sourced produce. It’s a small-scale regional, collaboration between Rosewell Development Trust and local food producers. The grant awarded was £4,589.
Evolution of the successful sales and marketing platform for Edinburgh’s craft breweries, Beers of Edinburgh, which opens new market opportunities for the sector. Funding will enable further online and retail sales as well as transferring the format to wider Scottish regions to allow other Scottish breweries to benefit. The grant awardedwas £5,000.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands Mairi Gougeon said: “This is the third round of funding provided under the Regional Food Fund and I am pleased to see the involvement of such a diverse range of projects. These collaborative projects will help showcase the incredible range of food and drink produced in Scotland delivering more unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences and provide further impetus to the sale of local produce, develop food tourism opportunities and contribute to recovery. Our focus remains on promoting local produce including high welfare and production standards, as well as taking into account environmental issues, something consumers are increasingly interested in.”
Fiona Richmond, Head of Regional Food at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “It is fantastic to support a further 24 collaborative food and drink projects with this latest round of funding from the Regional Food Fund. From the quality of applications, we can see that there is a great deal of energy for, and commitment to, developing local food and drink initiatives, all of which play a vital role in the growth of the food, drink and tourism sectors countrywide. Our congratulations to all the recipients and we look forward to seeing the projects develop over the coming months to create a lasting impact on communities across Scotland.”
About the Fund
The Regional Food Fund offers grants of up to £5,000 to support projects and initiatives that promote the development of food and drink across Scotland. The funding is aligned to the Food Tourism Scotland Action Plan and is part of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Recovery Plan, supported by Scottish Government.
The fund is specifically aimed at collaborative projects that:
- Contribute to the promotion and sales of regional produce
- Be collaborative, demonstrating a collective benefit to other food producers/communities and, where possible, a regional food group
- Align with the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s recovery plan and/or national food tourism plan
- Demonstrate a legacy
- Can be delivered by 31 March 2023
The pandemic has forced small-scale regional activities to diversify, innovate and get creative. From online markets to virtual events, there’s still plenty of opportunities to promote regional food and drink. The Regional Food Fund specifically applies to collaborative projects. Applications can be made by individual businesses in the food and drink sector, including primary producers, on behalf of a collaborative group or project, regional food groups, other food and drink groups/networks, and individuals on behalf of a collaborative group or project.
National Funding
The next round of the annual Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation Grant Scheme (FPMC) is now closed for applications. As one of a number of funding schemes which make up the Scottish Rural Development Programme, the FPMC provides £10.2 million of grant funding to businesses (or groups of businesses) within the Scottish food & drink sector to enable them to:
- develop or create food processing facilities, including buildings and equipment
- market products in home and export markets
- run pilot projects and feasibility studies
- to run co-operative ventures to ensure more value is retained by both farmers and growers
- to improve supply-chain efficiency.
Food and drink businesses across Scotland will benefit from a share of more than £10 million to improve supply-chain efficiency, increase production and run feasibility studies. A total of 33 businesses, large and small, will receive grants ranging from £16,000 to £1.4 million from the Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation (FPMC) grant scheme. Projects include capacity building for a dairy farm to meet the growing demand for its soft cheese, setting up of a new venison processing operation and installation of solar panels at a butcher premises to reduce carbon footprint and minimise electricity costs.
During a visit to one of the recipients of the fund, a family run organic farm in Aberdeenshire, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “The Scottish Government is supporting investment and expansion in our food and drink sector which offers incredible produce that is enjoyed at home and abroad. The FPMC scheme has enabled some really exciting projects in the past and I’m confident that this round of funding will play an important role in helping producers continue to deliver high-quality, innovative and nutritious products – securing and creating jobs and boosting the economy. I look forward to seeing how these grants enable businesses to move to the next level and I wish them the very best.”
Phil Swire of P HM & PP Swire, Balmakewan Farm Shop, said “We are absolutely delighted that our FPMC Grant application was successful. The FPMC grant gives our small farming business a huge opportunity to diversify and move forward. It will allow us to process our Organically home grown produce on site, creating further local employment. It is my belief that we need to be offering nutrient dense, ethically farmed, chemical free and environmentally positive food directly to local consumers whilst also reducing food miles. This project will allow our small family run farm to start offering exactly this to our local community.”
Background
FPMC is one of a number of funding schemes which make up the Scottish Rural Development Programme. The scheme provides grant funding to businesses (or groups of businesses) within the Scottish food and drink sector to enable them to:
- develop or create food processing facilities, including buildings and equipment
- market products in home and export markets,
- run pilot projects and feasibility studies
- to run co-operative ventures to ensure more value is retained by both farmers and growers and to improve supply-chain efficiency.
This is a competitive grant scheme and not all applications will be successful. In order to demonstrate the “incentive impact” of limited public funds any request for grant assistance of less than 10% of overall costs cannot be considered. Work on your project can begin once you have received notification of approval of grant. You must not start work on any part of your project, with the exception of preliminary costs before receiving notification of the grant award. Preliminary costs incurred before the grant award letter date are not eligible for grant funding. Any other costs incurred before the grant award letter date will make the project ineligible for funding.
Funding can help you:
- Develop or create food processing facilities, including buildings and equipment, and possibly even food and drink labelling
- Market your products in home and export markets at national/international trade shows/fairs.
- To run co-operative ventures to make sure more value is retained by both farmers and growers
- To improve supply-chain efficiency
Though the deadline has past for this year, use the following time to invest time and energy into applying for any and all grants next year. Perhaps you have a project in mind but haven’t had the capital to see it through. Now is the time to bring these projects to fruition.
