A partridge and a smoked cheese: how Scottish food became the star of Christmas

With a turnover of over £14 billion each year, Scotland’s food and drink industry is now the biggest sector of our economy, with sales figures topping those of oil and gas. In Scotland it is growing at twice the speed of the UK, with Christmas providing a further boost.

According to James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, the trend for seeking out local foods with a compelling story, means that it's not just the big brands that benefit. Small-scale producers told the Sunday Herald that though times were sometimes tough, they were seeing huge interest in their Christmas produce, with up to 70 per cent of their business done over the festive period.

Withers said: "Food and drink may be Scotland's biggest export, but our largest market is still here at home and Christmas is the peak of activity for so many food and drink businesses. We estimate that in the week running up to Christmas, Scottish shoppers will spend around £220 million on food and drink. That’s part of a spending spree across the UK on food and drink of over £2 billion, just in that seven-day period."

He claimed that supermarkets will see figures rise by over 40 per cent in the week before Christmas, with local butchers, fishmongers and smaller shops also seeing their profits rise.

"Shopper' desire to buy local, invest in a strong provenance story and support local farmers is a growing trend," he said. "That is great news for Scottish producers, especially as consumers in Scotland and right across the UK increasingly recognise Scottish produce as being of higher quality.

"The food and drink industry is not without its challenges and uncertainties in a rapidly changing world. But there is a national identity being built around Scottish food and drink."

Producers up and down the country including farmers, dairies, piemakers and smokehouses will be working round the clock over coming weeks. Robert Corrigan, who supplies handcrafted pies for upmarket London department store Fortnum & Mason said that he had employed extra staff and will be running a 24-hour operation, while farmers and fishermen claimed they were working between 12-18 hours a day to cope with the Christmas rush.

David Thomson, chief executive of FDF Scotland, said: "Christmas is the busiest time of year for most of our food and drink companies as families come together to celebrate. The talented people who work in food and drink companies across Scotland – almost 20 per cent of our manufacturing workforce – are right now working flat out to fulfil orders.

"This vital sector is only going to get more important to our economy in the next few years, so Christmas gives us a fantastic chance to sit back, relax and raise a toast to Scotland’s world-leading food and drink sector."

Jillian McEwan of Fresh Food Express, a specialist online retailer stocking specialities from across Scotland, said that although the online retailer supplied to regulars all year round, about 40 per cent of their £250k turnover was made in the six weeks before Christmas day.

Customer favourites includes cold-cut pies, Dundee Marmalade, artisan coffee and gin and – perhaps surprisingly at Christmas – porridge oats, which McEwan buys from Golspie Mill, one of the last places in Scotland to grind its oats using a water mill.

She added:"People don't just want to go to their high street butcher and buy whatever turkeys they have in stock. They are looking for food with provenance; they are asking for Highland beef and want it properly hung for a month or more. We're seeing more people asking for bespoke cuts and there is an increase in interest in meats like wild venison, and game like pheasant and partridge."

However, she acknowledged that many small businesses, who were struggling because they were not able to market themselves further afield. Last month a new £3 million Scottish Government scheme – Connect Local – was launched to help Scottish food and drink businesses build connections between local producers and entrepreneurs, micro-businesses and SMEs, with marketing key to services on offer.

Ceri Ritchie, project lead at Connect Local urged people to use Christmas as a time to support local farmers, fishermen, growers and producers. "Scottish producers, particularly small ones, can offer shoppers the full range of products to cater for both Christmas dinner and throughout the holiday season, as well as a wide range of foodie gifts," she said. "It’s also is important to remember that local is not just about indulgence, but is often about making simple changes, for example checking the label on vegetables to see where they are sourced from."

12 Gins of Christmas: Eden Mill Gin

The founders of Eden Mill Gin claim they don't do boring. The distillery, which opened near St Andrews in 2012 produces beer, gin and whisky, and now turns over £4-£6 million a year and reckons about a third of that is due to Christmas sales. For the second year, its 12 Gins of Christmas gift set – featuring classics alongside apple and cinnamon, chilli and ginger, candy cane and spruce and cranberry gins – have proved a huge hit, with 10,000 having sold so far. Gin crackers, each containing one of five miniatures, as well as pre-mixed cocktails and gift packs including special edition glasses, are all helping to drive sales. The boutique distillery, which produces gin by hand in cooper pot stills claims 50 per cent of their sales come from Scotland, with the other half made up across the UK, largely online. "Now that people are doing so much gift buying online it's fantastic for us," says Paul Miller, co-founder of Eden Mill Gin. "There is such an enthusiasm for innovative gin these days that it is no longer seen as a risky gift. At the same time, the way we are doing it offers something a bit different. We'll turn over more in November and December than we'll do in the first six months of the year put together. In total at Christmas turnover is about £1.7million so it's a pretty busy and significant time of the year for us." edenmill.com

Boxing Day Pie: Mr C's Pies

Robert Corrigan, founder of Mc C's pies, had worked in the hotel industry for long enough to know a gap a market when he saw one. And it was pie-shaped. More specifically it was speciality handcrafted-cold-cut-pie-shaped and in 2011 he set about to fill in, winning his first gold medal within months of starting production. Michelin star chef Andrew Fairlie is just one celebrity fan.

Corrigan also supplies Fortnum & Mason upmarket food hall with over 200 pies most weeks, each handmade using hot water pastry, Italian lard for a melt in the mouth experience and traditional stock jelly. Though the idea is to make better use of lesser cuts of meats, all are expertly sources. The pork, for example, is from Ramsay of Carluke's Scottish Outdoor reared pigs.

However in December Fortnum &Mason up their order to 4,300 pies over a 25 day period, hundreds more go to online butcher Donald Russell and local hotels and farmers markets are also clamouring for them. He estimates 70 percent of his business is done from October to December.

"Christmas is a crazy time," he said. "Last year I worked for 23 hours a day for three days straight and slept for an hour in my van in-between. This year we have extra staff on but it will be a 24-hour operation.

"For 2016 we've created the Boxing Day pie, with has turkey, cranberries and a layer of stuffing. It's inspired by the idea that a lot of people now won't get a turkey for Christmas dinner but this still allows them to have the full left-over experience the next day. We also do a smoke pheasant pie which is a best seller now and traditional ones like chicken and ham pies.

"Whether it’s Scotch beef, or craft beer, or artisan pies, consumers are hungry for more information on provenance, which means suppliers need to step up to the plate with the facts behind the food." mrcspies.co.uk

Butter: North Street Dairy

Hamish Millar is a fourth-generation producer of traditionally made butter at this 104-year-old Forfar dairy. The business dates back to the introduction of semi-skimmed milk, with the excess cream used to make butter. Millar painstakingly makes 120 pounds of butter a week, but over the Christmas period he ups production by over 50 per cent and works 80-90 hours per week. "It used to be made in food mixers in the house," he says. "And it's still patted in the traditional way with paddles." Salt is the only additive; North Street Dairy butter is almost pure cream, and at Christmas local hotels and restaurants snap it up as a rich indulgent ingredient for their festive menus. "It's so fresh as it's made from milk that has only left the cow 24 hours before, sometimes less," he adds. "Everything about it is completely traceable and traditional, which is its appeal. And in shortbread it is second to none." northstreetdairy.co.uk

Turkey: St Brides Freerange Poultry Farm

When Michelin-star chefs such as Andrew Fairlie, Martin Wishart and Tom Kitchin are all customers, you know you must be doing something right. Robert Morris runs his small family-run poultry farm just outside of Strathaven quite differently from his commercial competitors. The first batch of Christmas turkeys arrive in May where they are free to roam, and fed on locally grown wheat, barley, oats and nettles until the its time to fulfill the Christmas orders, which account for up to 50 per cent of his annual sales. He doesn't believe in the old maxim of feed 'em fast and sell 'em cheap. "Many supermarkets will kill a turkey at about eight weeks," he said. "Ours are six months which may not sound very old, but its important as it vastly improves the flavour. The fact that we have much higher welfare standards also improves the taste. The two are linked." This year's turkeys are sold out, but the farm still has free range farm duck, guinea fowl and capons available. stbridespoulty.co.uk

Smoked salmon: Creelers Smoked Products

Seafood is popular all year round, of course, but at Christmas not only are lobsters, langoustine and oysters at their best, they are also in high demand. "We are flat out at this time of year," says Fran James, co-owner of Creelers Smoked Products, which has recently moved from Arran across the Kilbrannan Sound to the Mull of Kintyre. Offering luxury Scottish smoked salmon and hot smoked salmon, Loch Fyne kippers, smoked duck, venison and fish pate, all produced in small batches in artisan smokehouses, this is classic Scottish festive fare. "We do about a third of our business in the run-up to Christmas and take on about half the number of staff again over the festive period, "she adds. "We supply farmers markets plus we also get a huge number of online orders." Recent orders have been sent as far as Italy, France and Switzerland, which must be Fedex-ed from Glasgow to ensure they arrive in perfect condition. Hampers include locally sourced extras including cheeses and chocolates, but it's the smoked salmon that's really the star of the show. Each side of fish is monitored as it is smoked to ensure its flavour is always perfectly balanced. "Most of the supermarket mass-produced versions have no flavour, they are just overly salted or have a really wet texture," added James. "People see it as cheap and easy, but at Christmas they make the effort to get the real thing. When they try our smoked salmon they can see and taste the difference." creelers.co.uk