Perth: The Place to Grow Your Food & Drink Business in Scotland

Perth: The Place to Grow Your Food & Drink Business in Scotland

Perth: The Place to Grow Your Food & Drink Business in Scotland

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erth is a city that is alive with opportunities; as a key player in the recently awarded £350m Tay Cities Deal, it has ambitions for sizeable economic development and significant population growth.

Boasting seriously competitive land and commercial rates, a high quality of living, and one of the country’s most wellconnected locations, Perth is fast becoming the first-choice destination for national and international companies resolute in growing their business in the UK and Scotland.

Thanks to rich agricultural land, and an innate entrepreneurial spirit, Perth has always been at the forefront of the food and drink industry in Scotland.

Opportunities to build on this success are now underway, including the £7.6m purpose-built Perth Food and Drink Park and a £62m industry-specific investment via Tay Cities Deal.

Quite simply, there has never been a more exciting time to be part of food and drink in Perth — could your business be part of our ambitious future?

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Agritech & Food Innovation Case Study: James Hutton Institute Perth Food and Drink Park Business Profile: Praveen Kumar Ready Meals Why Choose Perth for Food & Drink?

Business Profile: Bruce Farms Business Profile: Scarletts Honey

Doing Business In Perth

INVEST IN PERTH TEAM

The Invest in Perth team is focused on ensuring businesses in Perth and the wider region achieve their full potential, and realise their ambitions for growth. Knowledgeable, industry-savvy and well-connected, this is your first point of contact for future investment and relocation to, and within, the area.

Kirsty Easton Inward Investment & Marketing Officer keaston@pkc.gov.uk +44 (0)1738 475364

investinperth.co.uk Perth & Kinross Council, Pullar House 35 Kinnoull Street, PERTH, PH1 5GD

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Fraser McGowan Investment Team Leader fwmcgowan@pkc.gov.uk Serge Merone Investment Manager smerone@pkc.gov.uk

Agritech & Food Innovation: Future-proofing the Food & Drink Industry

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gritech: the use of technology in agriculture and horticulture with the aim of improving yield, efficiency, and profitability. Undoubtedly one of the world’s fastest growing industries, innovations in agritech are being driven forward by changes at a global level.

From a rising population to the challenges of climate change, in the next 10 to 15 years there is expected to be a 50% increase in demand on agriculture. Couple this with the demands of modern-day consumers who rightly expect us to deliver quality food produced to increasingly high social, environmental and ethical standards, and the need for a pioneering approach towards how we farm, produce and consume food becomes urgently clear.

Perth city, and the wider region, has long since been regarded as a world-leader in premium agricultural and horticultural produce including soft fruit, cereals, potatoes and brassicas. In addition to this, it boasts world leading developments in agricultural, plant and crop science.

At the heart of these developments is the James Hutton Institute, established at Invergowrie in April 2011 as a legacy of both the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) and Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI), both of which had been significant players in the development of agritech and food production.

Today, JHI’s research has driven them to take a leading role on the global stage in addressing the need to enhance agricultural technology. At the forefront of these plans are two ambitious projects; the International Barley Hub (IBH) and the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC). These have the potential to drive the innovation that will support the Scottish and UK agri-food sector, and subsequently, agriculture production worldwide.

This exciting agritech research is bolstered by a focus on food innovation, with nearby Abertay University providing academic research facilities for the food and drink manufacturing sector.

Established in 2006, the 10-strong team at Abertay works with both primary producers and secondary manufacturing in areas that include new product development, sensory science, waste utilisation and adding value to existing products and businesses.

Based in the university, the team also has access to the fertile farmland of the entire Tayside region, and this rich, fertile soil has provided the opportunity for even more exciting developments and partnerships to evolve. As such, over the past decade, Abertay has been instrumental in delivering product innovation for more than 80 different businesses.

Above: The Division of Engineering and Food Science at Abertay is leading the way in Food Innovation Research.

Opportunities with Abertay The food innovation team at Abertay would like to facilitate and engage with a consortium of businesses and trade associations to deliver the research and development required to drive significant impact on the Scottish food and drink sector from the Tayside regions of Perth, Dundee and Angus.

They seek local partners in both primary production and secondary manufacturing, who are ambitious and forward thinking, and who wish to upskill, innovate and disrupt the food and drink industry in new and exciting ways.

For example, Abertay University and Colbeggie Fruits Ltd are currently involved in an innovative Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project. As a commercial fruit packager for major UK supermarkets, Colbeggie Fruits Ltd is a producer of large amounts of fruit waste.

Utilising the knowledge available at Abertay University, Colbeggie Fruits Ltd are hoping to add value to this waste through the extraction of highly active compounds and produce a novel commercial product. The diversion of this waste from landfill to other commercial applications is not just of business, but environmental interest.

abertay.ac.uk

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Case Study: James Hutton Institute Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC) The APGC aims to provide innovative research and development around both crops grown under cover, and post-harvest storage facilities.

The APGC infrastructure is modelled around the key pillars of:

The ambition is to reduce the cycle for crop development by up to 50% and to deliver the plant varieties required to protect the UK food & drink sector from the impact of climate change and the risks posed to the global food supply chain. Additionally, it will improve product quality and provide market diversification opportunities.

Vertical growth towers

By bringing together the skills and knowledge already available within the region, and by attracting inward investment and innovation, the APGC will become a global centre for the development of the next generation of controlled environment agriculture.

A high-throughput phenotyping platform

Next generation, controlled environments

A post-harvest research facility

Impact of the International Barley Hub

£36m £8.60 initial return investment

20% on every pound invested

3500 extra jobs equalling £750m in economic value added 4

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financially sustainable by:

of uk food and drink exports depend on barley

Year 7

research income grows from £5m to £13m a year

research staff increase from

63 to102

Developing The World’s Most Advanced Vertical Farm

The International Barley Hub Barley is indispensable to the UK economy, being vital to the distilling, brewing and food industries and having potential for a host of emerging uses in the health, chemicals and energy sectors. Future barley supply is increasingly uncertain due to the implications of climate change, developing worldwide demand, evolving pest and disease risks and agronomic pressures.

It is also a critical crop for populations most exposed to failures in global food security, anticipated population growth and urbanisation shifts, meaning pressures worldwide will exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

Barley is generally more tolerant to marginal environments than its close relative wheat and has been labelled the ‘last crop before the desert’. Thus, while barley production in developed economies has declined, many developing countries have increased barley production.

The James Hutton Institute, alongside other key research organisations and industry has commenced plans for the International Barley Hub. This global centre of excellence will link industry-focused research with innovation to deliver immediate impact and ensure the long term sustainability of the UK’s leading agriculture, brewing and distilling sectors.

Opportunities for Business

The APGC and International Barley Hub will create highly innovative new industries requiring combinations of skills and knowledge not previously applied to the agri-food sector. The opportunities to develop new systems and processes are abundant, and alongside this skills and talent development will be essential.

To realise the ambitious and multi-sectorial aims of these projects, a broad range of skills and knowledge is required. It is recognised that many skill gaps exist and see this is an opportunity to develop important synergistic relationships with academic and industry partners throughout Tayside.

Intelligent Growth Solutions Ltd (IGS) have drawn on skills and knowledge in the Tayside region to build their demonstration vertical farm on the James Hutton Institute site in Invergowrie. Reported to be one of the most advanced vertical farms in the world, plants are produced on 6m2 trays under 5-channel LED lighting that is fully controllable.

Combined with independent control of nutrient provision, temperature and humidity at the tray level, the growing environment is optimised for yearround crop production and with plant growth constantly monitored with advanced sensing technology.

Such optimisation can lead to a 125 times more efficient growing system — a 9m tall tower carrying 60 trays on a 40m2 footprint can annually produce crops that would otherwise require in excess of 5000m2 of hightech glasshouse space.

This entirely commercially funded venture has drawn on the local expertise in photonics at St Andrews University where the original prototype was built on the Eden Campus Energy Centre and in crop science where the full-scale demonstrator has been built on the the institute site in Invergowrie.

The APGC will facilitate the development of sensors, robotics and machine learning protocols to further optimise and automate the crop production process.

hutton.ac.uk

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Perth Food & Drink Park

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ignificant investment into food and drink over the past decade has secured Perth’s position at the forefront of today’s exciting sector developments. The area is now an attractive base for innovative, forward-thinking food and drink businesses and the industry boasts substantial commitment from the local authority’s Invest in Perth team.

Site 12 ~10 acres

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River Tay

nits*

ng u

i exist

Solar Suds Farm Pond

Having fully exploited the favourable land and commercial rates available in Perth, the development offers unrivalled value. Bringing together cost-effective production facilities, with a highly desirable, strategic location on the edge of the city, Perth Food & Drink Park delivers investment opportunities at a fraction of the cost of its larger Scottish counterparts.

An initial development of five food and drink manufacturing units has been completed and currently houses various businesses including production and distribution for a new

Site 6 1.99 acres

Site 8 2.26 acres

With previous plans for growth now coming to fruition, there are currently more than 1000 food and drink businesses, thriving and growing in the 2000 sq mi of Perth and its wider region. Jointly generating an impressive £750m per annum, the strategy has now entered its next stage with the purpose-built, £7.6m Perth Food and Drink Park development.

This winning combination has resulted in an extremely competitive opportunity, which is open to businesses from the wider UK and global marketplace.

Site 7 2.05 acres

Suds Pond

Perth Food & Drink Park Available Plots *One standard food unit remaining. correct at time of going to press

Indian ready meal brand, refrigerated and ambient transportation, and a chocolate drink company driven to succeed at a UK wide level. In addition SAC Consulting Perth, a division of Scotland’s Rural College, sits in close proximity and contributes to the knowledge base of food-based agricultural businesses in the area.

Remaining plots, each with planning permission for industrial and commercial developments, are now available to businesses interested in growing their brand in line with Perth’s aspirational vision for this sector.

Purpose built, high-spec, food standard units These modern, purpose-built units each benefit from an impressive specification allowing food and drink companies to simply move in, and start production.

Approved by the local authority’s Environmental Health Department, they are guaranteed as food standard ready and come with wipe down walls and ceilings, poly-resin floor coverings and mezzanine storage areas.

Running costs and environmental governance have also been carefully considered, and all units are EPC rating Excellent A+, come triple glazed as standard and have insulated wall and roof panels. Electricity is provided via the onsite Solar Array and roof-mounted solar panels.

Flexible, serviced plots for development Ranging in size from 1 acre to 10 acres, the Invest in Perth team is looking for ambitious food and drink partners who are serious about scaling their business. Their approach to potential partners is flexible and open, with support offered to progress plans and ideas that may be suitable for this development.

Services to plots include medium pressure gas, HV electricity, superfast broadband, telecoms, water and drainage. In addition the park benefits from a new photovoltaic solar array generating up to 125kw of renewable energy.

Favourable consideration will be given to notes of interest from both existing and start-up businesses in manufacturing, distilling, supply chain efficiencies, food innovation and logistics.

In particular, the team are ready to push forward ideas that will support high-value, long-term and skilled employment for the area’s growing population.

Advantages of Perth Food & Drink Park Commitment from Invest in Perth to support your business plans Multiple, serviced plots with a footprint flexible to your needs Purpose built, high-spec, food standard units, in ready-to-move in condition An existing hub of established food & drink businesses and industry peers on your doorstep Well-connected location on the A9 trunk road, with excellent road and rail links One hour drive from Scotland’s major airports, two miles from Perth’s commercial harbour Tenants will benefit from low cost renewable electricity, sourced from our onsite solar farm

Food & Drink Park Business Spotlight: Praveen Kumar

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n 2009 Praveen Kumar set up his first food and drink business in Perth city centre; Tabla Restaurant would provide an authentic Indian experience that would source local produce as its base ingredients, importing the burst of essential flavour sourced from the family spice farm in Hyderabad. In the 10 years since then he has grown the small restaurant to an impressive £500K annual turnover, and in the past 18 months has added a booming Indian Cook School to his brand stable which is running at 100% capacity.

His future plans are now firmly set in the ready meal and retail production market, a booming industry that he aims to break into with his authentic Indian recipes straight from his family kitchen. This multimillion pound growth projection has been made possible with the advent of the Food & Drink Park opening, and Praveen

was amongst the first leaseholders, taking a double unit for cooking, production, packing and distribution.

“It was four years ago that I first set my sights on a unit at the Food & Drink Park. By then I had already started to research the ready meals market and my main objective was to secure a production unit that would allow me to deliver and distribute quickly and easily across Scotland and into North England.

“As well as the home-based customer, Praveen Kumar Ready meals will supply restaurants and cafes with ready to heat, home-cooked curries, and so a smooth supply chain is an essential part of the process. Perth is, of course, the ideal location for this and I am delighted to be growing my business in an area I now consider to be my home.”

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Why Choose Perth for Food & Drink?

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erth has long-since held an important place in Scotland’s food and drink industry, with its prolific agricultural land and central location making it an obvious hub for the country’s market trading. Add to this a plethora of Scotch Whisky distilleries and world-famous Tay Salmon fishing, and you will find an area built upon a bounty of exceptional food and drink.

In recent years Perth has built on this rich history of food production and strong food tourism links, and has seen its agricultural community diversify to become one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking in the global marketplace.

Subsequently, this appetite for leading from the front has extended far beyond the traditional trading of agricultural commodities. From the launch of Scotland’s first Farmers Market in Perth city centre some 20 years ago, to the development of a world-class barley hub at James Hutton Institute, and the creation of the country’s only twoMichelen-star restaurant, Perth is an area that has led the way in food and drink at all points in the ‘field to fork’ chain.

Today, Perth offers its food and drink businesses an exciting, economically robust location that offers an end-to-end solution for food producers, the food service industry and connects seamlessly with Scotland, the UK and its international export customers. More than that, there is a commitment to support and build upon this infrastructure with investment in food development, in research, and in ensuring the workforce of the future is skilled and ready.

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Above: Strathearn Distillery is one of Perth’s many highly successful food & drink businesses.

The Food & Drink Industry in Perth

£750m 10,000+

annual sector turnover

Food & Drink

Sector Jobs

1000+ Food & Drink Businesses in the

Perth City Region

Strong Whisky

Heritage, including Dewars (The USA’s most popular Whisky!)

Proven Economic Credentials Economically, Perth city region punches well above its weight, with an impressive regional productivity figure of £49,500 – some £2200 per job higher than the Scottish productivity average of £47,300. 80% of its population is considered to be economically active.

Perth has laid out a forward-thinking vision for the future, including a projected 27% growth in population within two decades. The area is home to a number of world-class food and drink companies including international water giant Highland Spring, and Dewar’s Whisky – the fifth largest blended whisky brand in the world, and the top selling Scotch Whisky in the USA.

“80% of Perth’s population is considered to be economically active.”

Unrivalled Location

Dedicated Sector Support

Perth’s central location in the heart of Scotland serves its business community well. An excellent local infrastructure feeds effortlessly into the wider Scottish and UK road and rail networks, connecting this vibrant small city quickly and easily to major markets across the UK, and internationally via Edinburgh airport which is only one hour away.

The Invest in Perth team provides a single point of contact for your enquiry, offering a seamless process and targeted guidance for food & drink businesses seeking to operate in the area.

Quality of Life for your Workforce Perth boasts a regular top 20 position on many of the UK’s key surveys and quality of life indicators, with schools, workplace opportunities, and house prices amongst the most competitive in the country.

The team is particularly focused on delivering a competitive, costeffective solution for businesses interested in securing a place within the Food & Drink Park. To this end, they can assist you in securing a development licence, ground-lease, or, circumstances allowing, a turnkey design and build with you as a PKC tenant.

As well as offering a transparent and efficient planning process for your investment, they will also help you navigate funding and incentive schemes to access new markets in the UK and overseas. Essentially, they will open doors into local organisations specialising in research, innovation and skills in and around the sector.

These include the Scottish Rural College situated adjacent to Perth Food & Drink Park, James Hutton Institute, Binn Ecopark, Perth College UHI and Food Innovation at Abertay University.

More importantly though, Perth and the wider region is recognised as being culturally rich, with several awardwinning theatres and festivals, an unrivalled eating out scene – the city won Scotland’s Food Town of the Year 2018 – and a historical landscape that includes Scone Palace and the Black Watch Castle and Museum.

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Business Spotlight: Bruce Farms

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hen you consider the impact of the food and drink industry on both the economy and our quality of life, it becomes clear that innovation is essential for the population as a whole. At the core of this development are the individual producers and manufacturers who become the vehicles for growth and opportunity.

An excellent example of farm diversification and food innovation is Bruce Farms. Farming began in 1898 for the Bruces and is now directed by father and son team Bill Bruce and Geoff Bruce, who are third and fourth generation respectively. The first farm, covering 300 acres, was leased 120 years ago and at the time was a conventional agriculture business. Since then, the business has expanded significantly and owns multiple farms around Meigle amounting to 1,600 acres.

The business cultivates more than 10,000 acres of premium agricultural farmland producing peas, beans, potatoes, soft fruit, cereals and cattle. From their base in Perthshire, 30 full time staff and 250 seasonal workers pick, pack and distribute across Scotland and the UK to some of the UK’s most respected food and retail brands including Birds Eye, Ribena and Albert Bartlett.

The key methods of diversification in the hundred plus years the farm has been in business, are the introduction of new crops and adapting to developing farming methods.

Bruce Farms produces around 1,500 tonnes of barley for malting, 14,000 tonnes of potatoes for Albert Bartlett, 500 tonnes of blackcurrants for Ribena, 1,000 tonnes of strawberries and raspberries for supermarket and a pedigree herd of Charolais cattle for breeding. In addition there are peas and beans on almost 8,900 acres of mainly rented land in Angus, Fife, and Perthshire, which in 2019 took the total farmed area to more than 10,500 acres.

Proud of their heritage as farmers, their most recent evolution has been to take their world-class harvest and develop a product that

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could be eaten on the go. By utilising and building upon their core product and diversifying into the process of freeze drying, Bruce Farms has developed a seasoned pea snack from their Scottish peas.

After two years in development, in March 2019 they launched Podberry, an innovative new freeze-dried seasoned pea snack.

Healthy and one of your five a day, the end result is a premium, on-the-go snack that is high in protein, and comes in four varieties – Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet Chilli, Ham Hock And Parmesan & Truffle flavour. The first wave of retail opportunities has seen the product placed into farmshops, delis and independent foodhalls, and Podberry has recently secured a listing with the retailer Morrisons.

With long-term plans looking towards exporting world-wide, Bruce Farms prides itself on respect for the heritage of the land it cultivates, whilst constantly innovating through its use of cutting-edge technology.

brucefarms.co.uk

Business Spotlight: Scarletts Scotland

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carletts Scotland in Meigle, Perthshire has come a long way in the two decades since it was founded. Established in 1999 as a commercial beekeeping and honey production business, the company’s first customers were the ones they sold to directly at Perth Farmers Market. Specialising in Scottish blossom and heather honey varieties, their premium product was a hit amongst this discerning customer base and by 2003 they had built a new food grade packing plant to keep up with the demand brought on by farm shops, delis and speciality independent food halls.

Andrew Scarlett, founder and owner at Scarletts Scotland, is firm in his belief that it is their countryside location in eastern Perthshire that has allowed the business to grow so smoothly, with each step change managed by simply expanding from their existing base rather than incurring a move.

“For us, Perthshire comes with all of the location benefits, and no downside. UK-wise, we are very well positioned with great road links across the entire length of the country, guaranteeing our customers next day deliveries. We have haulage lorries coming in and out of the yard daily and even when honey is delivered into a port down South, it’s never more than a day away. For countries like Ethiopia, who airfreight rather than ship, the product is with us within 24 – 36 hours. That is invaluable to us and our customers in an industry which is increasingly ‘just in time’ and requires fast turn around.

“Where it really comes into its own though, is what we call the Perthshire experience. Honey is a natural product, and our base in the honey-producing capital of Scotland lends itself to the clean, wholesome values that people associate with our products.

By 2008 Scarletts Honey was stocked in most Tesco stores in Scotland, and this, coupled with a new strand to the business that saw them packing honey for other companies, generated the need for an additional 50% more space onto the packing plant.

“When we invite beekeepers from Europe and further afield to visit the farm they are blown away by our surroundings. Looking onto Perthshire glens and agriculture as it happens is authentic. Taking UK buyers and overseas visitors to see any one of our 750 hives in the glens can almost guarantee seeing deer, red squirrels and ospreys!!

In 2010 Andrew Scarlett was honoured to receive a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, the first ever awarded for beekeeping, which allowed him to travel around the world learning and sharing his experiences of the industry.

In 2010 Scarletts Scotland became a British Retail Consortium (BRC) accredited honey packer, an award which is recognised globally, and also moved into packing organic honey to the Soil Association standard. These accreditations have widened their appeal to a worldwide market. From Ethiopia to New Zealand, India to Bulgaria, Scarletts imports and packs hundreds of barrels for over 20 countries annually. This diversification has stood the company in good stead, and packing for third-party honey producers now makes up an increasing percentage of their business. Honey is shipped or air-freighted into the UK, whereupon it is transported to Scarletts by road. Once packed, the team at Scarletts will either ship to the next part of a product’s chain – as is the case with honey used as an ingredient – or distribute across the UK and Europe for the primary customer via pallets or boxes.

“All of this contributes to building those global relationships – take a group of Italians to any number of world renowned restaurants in Perthshire, or Americans out for a game of golf and they’re yours for life! In turn, that keeps Scarletts at the forefront of the industry world-wide.

“Yes, in essence we’re packing for our competitors; and our expertise is assisting them in becoming supermarket ready. But we’re also establishing our brand as the one to be associated with, the standard bearer for global honey.”

scarletts.scot

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A city that is alive with ambition and opportunity.

Boasting competitive land and commercial rates, a high quality of living, and one of the country’s most well-connected locations, Perth is fast becoming the first-choice destination for national and international companies resolute in growing their business in the UK and Scotland.

investinperth.co.uk