IT is not always easy at the moment to find many bright spots amid the general economic gloom. The downsides are easy to spot. The global oil and gas sector, including the North Sea, continues to struggle.
The overall UK manufacturing sector has not had its troubles to seek, with the domestic economy weak and challenges in overseas markets.
And Scottish Engineering’s surveys of its membership in recent quarters have shown a sector that is under pressure, partly but not entirely as a result of the oil and gas sector’s troubles.
Meanwhile, the ever-present elephant in the room, the impending referendum promised by Prime Minister David Cameron on the UK’s continuing membership of the European Union, seems to be getting larger by the minute.
Experts have forecast a plunge in sterling and a sharp, and no doubt painful, tumble in UK economic output in the event of a so-called Brexit. It is difficult to imagine anything other than such a grim scenario in this context.
The most recent official Scottish manufactured export figures, at headline level, did nothing to lift the gloom when they were published last month.
They showed a 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall in Scottish manufactured exports in the three months to September.
However, looking below the surface, there was some brightness amid the gloom. The figures showed that Scottish food exports leapt by 17.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter during the three months to September. This marked a continuation of what has been a strong performance by Scotland’s food producers since 2013. This very good progress has been achieved in the face of challenging economic conditions and pressures arising from sterling’s strength against the euro.
Comparing the year to September with the preceding 12 months, overseas sales by Scottish food producers were up by 14.3 per cent.
The number one food export from Scotland is salmon. A survey published last September by the Scottish Government showed Scotland’s farmed salmon production rose to a record level in 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available and an increase of nearly 10 per cent on the 2013 figure.
UK exports of fresh salmon to the US totalled £213.3 million in 2014. Exports of fresh salmon to France amounted to £107.1m, and sales into China were £63.9m. Scottish salmon is also in demand in the likes of the Republic of Ireland and Poland.
Other Scottish seafood is also greatly sought after in export markets. Shortbread manufacturers have also enjoyed major export success, as have jam-makers and a raft of other food producers.
Scotland has a great story to sell when it comes to food, and it seems to be telling it well.
And Scottish food producers also appear to be doing well on their home turf, and elsewhere in the UK.
The number of supply deals with the major supermarket chains and discounters announced by Scottish food companies is most encouraging.
Often, the companies winning this business are investing heavily on the back of the strong revenues to ensure future growth. Among the food producers that have recently announced investment in increased capacity are We Hae Meat, based at Cairnhill Farm near Girvan in Ayrshire, and Border Biscuits at Lanark, which has been enjoying success at home while targeting export growth.
And Scottish food producers are proving innovative as they take advantage of an increasing appetite by the big supermarket groups to source locally where they can, at a time when consumers are becoming more interested in the provenance of what they are eating.
Greenock food manufacturer McKechnie Jess recently won a contract to supply a new range of Indian foods to Tesco that could be worth around £500,000 a year, building on an existing supply arrangement. The firm has been engaged to supply potato aloo, chicken pakora strips and spiced onions for sale in Tesco stores in Scotland.
McKechnie Jess already supplied products including a black pudding pakora to more than 100 Tesco stores north of the Border.
There is a raft of names of other Scottish food producers stacked on the shelves and in the fridges of the big supermarket chains, including Malcolm
Allan, Simon Howie, Mackie’s, Baxters, jam manufacturer Mackays and pizza maker Cosmo, to name but half-a-dozen.
And a fair number of Scottish food producers, once they get listings in supermarkets north of the Border, find themselves being asked before long to supply these retailers’ stores south of the Border as well.
Elsewhere, Graham’s The Family Dairy has signed a deal to become the exclusive supplier of milk to all of US coffee shop chain Starbucks’ 68 outlets in Scotland.
It seems almost certain that the steady stream of press releases from Scottish food producers, announcing major supply deals, will continue.
So, while the broader economic gloom might be showing no sign of lifting, there is nothing to suggest Scotland’s food producers will not maintain their upward trajectory.
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