THE early morning heat may have cooled by lunchtime, but that didn't stop 1,000 beef and dairy cattle, 1,500 sheep, 500 chickens and 100 goats lowing, bleating and crowing as they waited patiently for their moment in the sun.

That was the soundtrack as Scotland's farming community joined exhibitors, producers and members of the public who turned out in their thousands for the first day of the 174th Royal Highland Show at Ingliston. Up to 180,000 visitors are expected over the four days of the show.

With the eyes of the world on Scotland and its world-class ­quality natural produce on the eve of the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, there was a stronger than ever focus on food and its links with farming and agriculture in Scotland.

To reflect this, it was announced that cabinet minister Richard Lochhead's job title was to be altered to incorporate food for the first time. The Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Minister announced a £45 million investment in the Scotch beef industry.

There were five major food launches at the show on the first day alone. The first of these was a new haggis from Campbells Prime Meat, created in collaboration with Quality Meat Scotland, which will be marketed in the UK and Europe. Meanwhile, Hall's (no longer of Broxburn) reclaimed its title as the maker of the world's largest haggis. The 1010kg beast was displayed to the public and will be sold in portions over the weekend to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Care.

Not everything was about meat, however, and a number of other new products reflected the diversity and development of the food industry. A new Scottish gin was launched, produced in Moray and distributed by Gordon & MacPhail as part of the Gordon Castle range. It uses botanicals from the castle's restored eight-acre walled garden, including lavender and mint, and joins Pickerings, Hendricks and Caorunn in the growing Scottish gin market.

There was also the unveiling of the Scottish Chocolate Trail, which will feature more than 75 locations in a Community Food Fund-supported network of the country's top chocolatiers, from Cocoa Mountain in Durness to Mayan Truffles and The Moniaive Chocolatiers in Dumfries & Galloway.

Also marking their burgeoning significance as major players in the industry were eight of Scotland's cold-pressed rapeseed oil brands who, as reported in The Herald yesterday, announced they were collaborating to market themselves on the world stage as Scottish Rapeseed Oil.

Finally, growers of Ayrshire Early New Potatoes confirmed they are to apply for protected status for their highly-rated tubers.

But perhaps illustrating the widening demographic of the RHS's audience was the comment from one young woman viewing the prize beasts in the Cattle Hall: "Aw man, it's enough to make you go a wee bit veggie, ain't it?"