Brewing Up Success For Scottish Food and Drink
The Scottish Government has awarded 32 companies grant support worth £9 million under the latest rounds of food and drink funding. The Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation (FPMC) scheme means that since 2008 159 Scottish projects have benefited from £38 million support. The latest rounds include grants for two innovative Scottish companies with high growth potential to construct new brewery premises.
Heidi Beers in Glasgow have received £1.85 million towards expansion plans that will support 18 new employees and see all production move to a new facility inScotland, relocating the 70 per cent of their operations currently based in Germany. Heidi will source 92 per cent of their barley from Scotland, while they will launch a new low-alcohol lager.
Aberdeenshire-based Brewdog will receive £551,000 towards a new brewery in Ellon, in a move that will create 16 new jobs and enable them to relocate to Scotland production that takes place in England and Belgium. A new storage facility will see Brewdog increase Scottish-sourced barley from 10 per cent to 50 per cent, while the development will enable expansion in to a new non-alcoholic malt-based soft drink range.
“Food and drink is one of Scotland’s greatest success stories, thanks to our outstanding natural larder and high quality, delicious produce,” says Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead. “While Scotch whisky is the international flag bearer of our drink offering, our beers and ales are highly sought after and this sector has seen rapid growth in recent years. Heidi and Brewdog are innovative Scottish companies and this investment will not only create jobs, but boost Scottish agriculture through more locally sourced barley. I particularly welcome plans to diversity their products to include low and non-alcoholic drinks.”
Grants for the food industry have been awarded for a wide range of businesses and include:
* £846,687 for Malcolm Allan, a family-owned butchery business based in Falkirk, for the purchase of a new building and the upgrade and installation of meat processing facilities.
* £341,438 for Benzie, a Turriff-based carrots and potatoes company, to extend facilities and install a cleaning line, packing line, bagging machine, weigher/metal detectors, two forklift trucks and a waste water treatment plant.
* £99,300 for TDC Thomson, a vegetable processor in Kelso, to construct a humidified and refrigerated storage building for broccoli and cauliflower.
* £15,370 for Connage Highland Dairy in Inverness, a handmade cheese producer, to build a new packing area and office space alongside new refrigeration and processing equipment.
