Speciality food and drink was celebrated last week at Scotland’s fine food trade event, the Speciality Food & Drink Show, with farm shops, buyers, hotels and restaurants all flocking to Glasgow’s SEC from 19-21 January to ensure they had a slice of the pie. With a host of innovative producers showing their wares, buyers had choice, taste and some really unusual food and drink to whet their appetites.
With an increase in the number of visitors from 2024, exhibitors were pleased with the quality of the buyers who were serious about enquiries and even placing orders, discovering and tasting new products and trends, and re-stocking after a steady season last year. Nothing beats the face-to-face contact of a trade Show, making them a firm fixture in the buying calendar.
“It was great to judge the Best Product Awards and see so many entries, which made it challenging to only pick three from each category," said April Pollock, Scottish buyer for Morrison’s supermarket. "In general the Show was brimming with many fantastic products and it is always refreshing to see new and innovative products being introduced to the market.”
The quality of products on offer has increased steadily over the years and on display was some of the most delicious, well-packaged and well-presented products that are on offer in the country. The regions were also celebrated with Orkney, Food from Argyll and Appetite for Angus all taking large, multi-producer stands, attracting a steady flow of buyers for the three days.
Anya Baak from Great Glen Charcuterie said: “This has been a really good show for us and we have had a great response from visitors. As well as seeing our existing buyers we have met new ones and so are spreading the word about our products further afield.”
The Best Product Awards, judged on the opening day of the Show by industry experts Ben Dale from Cairn Lodge services, Karol Rzepkowski from Victor Hugo delis, Janey Paton from Auchentullich Farm Shop and April Pollock, Buyer for Morrisons attracted much interest. The winners all displayed a degree of innovation, good packaging, excellent taste and an understanding of how to produce commercial products.
Karol Rzepkpwski said, “The awards was a great showcase for Scottish food and drink. We were impressed by the care and passion of so many of the producers and the degree of innovation they showed in the production process and packaging.”
Winner of the Drinks category Jennifer Macleod from North Uist Distillery said: “We saw many new buyers who came to the stand on the back of us being awarded Gold. This has given us many leads to follow up and as a newbie to this Show we will definitely be back.”
As well as the sourcing element, Scotland’s Speciality Food & Drink Show had a full programme of talks and panel discussions in their Talking Shop. All were well attended and gave insight into subjects from digital strategies to trends, tourism ideas to how to become more sustainable.
Show Director Mark Saunders commented: “We are aware that times are tough right now. We are in the fortunate position in Scotland of being a popular tourist destination as well as fostering huge talent around the country. Our Show punches above its weight in terms of the innovation of exhibitors and attracts buyers from far and wide. The 2025 Show demonstrated this with healthy order books, smiling exhibitors and satisfied buyers all returning home after three busy days.”
