SCOTTISH FOOD and drink businesses have been signing up to The Academy – a new training initiative to boost growth in the industry following Covid-19 disruption.

A series of programmes – delivered by Scotland Food and Drink Partnership and training experts Levercliff Associates – will run for two and a half years and aims to help businesses sell themselves, build their brands, thrive and compete in highly competitive retail and foodservice markets. The Academy hopes to support over 200 Scottish businesses and 38 have already signed up.

There are three training programmes available – Seeding Growth, Accelerating Growth and Commercial Excellence – which have been designed to support companies at various stages in their development.

Seeding Growth, which started in May and will run for twelve weeks, is aimed at companies whose primary focus is maximising their local markets and beginning to consider opportunities in the broader Scottish marketplace.

Director at The Pakora Explorer, Sheetal Revis, is taking part in the programme: "The last year has challenged the business to the point of thinking, this is it, what will we do now?" she said. "However, from challenges comes opportunity and the need to think outside the box. If we have to look for a positive from Covid, we may never have moved into producing a line for retail / food service.

“Being part of The Academy will help me to gain that valuable industry insight that will help my business to grow further. I've really missed networking events and the chance to speak to people, The Academy will help with some of that. I'm really excited to learn from other businesses that are in a similar stage as ours, but in particular to help develop our strategy for success."

The Accelerating Growth course is aimed at established businesses already supplying large customers in Scotland and looking to advance in the wider UK market, and will start this June and run for six months.

Programme participant and founder at The Drinks Bakery, Andy Murray, said: “This last year has been a huge challenge for The Drinks Bakery as much of the hard work and momentum built up through 2019 came to an end and the large-scale contracts that we were so close to getting simply fell away.

“That said, we still saw growth through 2020, just from different channels. Our D2C channel took off through Amazon and a hastily set up webshop as people wanted to spoil themselves at home. Plus our range started to fly off the shelves in the delis and farm shops around the UK as more people shopped closer to home.

“The Drinks Bakery is now getting closer to partnering with the right sort of UK multiple retail and we’ve been exporting small amounts to Europe, UAE and North America over the last two years but things are about to get bigger. Being part of the Scotland Food and Drink Academy is exactly the support we need at this crucial stage of scaling.”

Market development and business engagement director at Scotland Food and Drink, Lucy Husband, said: “The Academy aims to bring a renewed sense of positivity and optimism for businesses when it comes to growing their brands. It is fantastic to see so many local food and drink businesses focus on their future and revisit their ambitions for growth after an extraordinarily difficult year.

“These programmes have a real focus on knowledge sharing, upskilling and innovating, and are fundamentally about helping businesses to deliver a real step-change for long term growth. Change that is rooted in the here and now in the commercial realities of the world we live in, but with an eye to the future.

“Whilst we don’t know what the future might hold, food and drink will undoubtedly continue to be a key export and economic contributor for Scotland and we are thrilled to be able to support businesses grow their brand to compete in local, UK and international markets.”

Applications are now open for future cohorts of The Academy. To find our more and apply, visit: www.foodanddrink.scot/the-academy/