Brexit has been branded a disaster for the food industry, causing Scottish farmed salmon producers millions of pounds in lost sales alone. Now senior figures from the Scottish food sector have delivered a damning verdict of the UK’s exit from the European Union and subsequent withdrawal from the single market and customs union.
Food manufacturing veteran Bill Hazeldean, chairman of the Macallan Food Group, declared it is “clear that Brexit has been a disastrous error for the UK in general and the food industry in particular”.
He said: “Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit but we were dragged into it. My sincere hope is over the next few years the UK rebuilds a strong relationship with Europe, perhaps aspiring to a Norwegian-style agreement. Who knows, maybe in the fullness of time, we can rejoin the EU?”
READ MORE: Family Scottish ice cream maker plans growth, adopts Michelangelo
READ MORE: The industrial revolution gets set to go into orbit
READ MORE: Sub Club cheer for entrepreneur using beer to change world
Mr Hazeldean, whose firm owns steak pie and sausage maker Malcolm Allan and holds a controlling interest in haggis firm Macsween of Edinburgh, is among a host of industry figures who have voiced their views on the state of the Scottish food and drink industry for a special report in this edition of The Herald Business HQ Monthly.
Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, made plain the impact of Brexit on the sector his organisation represents. He stated of all the challenges facing the industry, “Brexit has been one of the most difficult”, adding: “Since leaving the EU in 2020, producers have been grappling with bureaucracy and paperwork that has added £3 million a year to the cost of trading to French and European supermarkets.
“For salmon farmers alone, we estimate Brexit has resulted in £100m a year in lost sales. Despite strong sales growth in markets like Asia and the US, the EU remains our most significant export region, accounting for around 60% of our international sales. Brexit’s red tape and extra bureaucracy does hold back the full potential for export growth despite the hard work and investment by farmers to address these issues.
“There is huge potential to expand in key European markets like Spain, Italy, and Germany, where the demand for nutritious, low-carbon Scottish salmon is growing.
“The world-renowned quality of our produce gives us a strong foundation to build on, but we need more practical support to reduce the bureaucracy and red tape.”
In the report, industry figures give their views on a host of issues, from the impact of high energy prices, wages and raw material costs to the drive to net zero. Some supported the introduction of a Scotland visa to address labour shortages in the short term while plans are put in place to make the industry a more attractive place to work in the long term. Rory Stone of Highland Fine Cheeses made the case for Scotland to ramp up its domestic dairy production.
Despite challenges facing the industry, Adam Hardie, head of food and drink at Johnston Carmichael, said a rise in optimism had been found in the latest annual food and drink survey carried out by the independent Scottish accountancy firm.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel