Charles Livingstone
Partner, Brodies LLP
Charles Livingstone
Partner, Brodies LLP
Charles heads up Brodies' cross-practice food & drink sector group. He leads Brodies' competition law practice, supporting clients on sensitive and strategically important matters including obtaining merger clearance for major M&A projects, investigating potential competition breaches, responding to dawn raids and acting in competition litigation. He also advises private and public sector clients on State aid and public procurement, in both contentious and non-contentious scenarios.
Charles also supports commercial, public sector, charitable and individual clients on public law issues including judicial review, human rights, information law, charity law and public authority powers and duties. He advises clients on constitutional matters, such as the limits on the Scottish Parliament’s powers, and is the co-head of Brodies' Brexit Advisory Group. He also has significant experience of drafting legislation, including Acts of the Scottish Parliament. Charles is an experienced litigator, having handled major cases in courts up to the UK Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Tom Pugh
UK Economist
“I am looking forward to being involved in this year’s conference to discuss how the tricky economic environment we are in is impacting the food and drink industry.”
Tom Pugh
UK Economist
Thomas Pugh is RSM's UK economist analysing the key economic events in the UK and assessing the effect that they have on middle-market businesses in an accessible way. He works closely with RSM Chief Economist, Joe Brusuelas to see what impact changes elsewhere in the globe may have on the UK market, giving a comprehensive overview of the economic issues mid-market leaders need to be aware of.
He is regularly quoted and interviewed by the UK’s financial media, such as the Financial times and the BBC, and frequently presents his thoughts and insights on the UK economy to businesses and conferences around the country and internationally.
Contact ThomasIain Baxter
CEO of Scotland Food & Drink
I am delighted to be speaking at this year’s conference. I’ll be discussing the new industry strategy ‘Sustaining Scotland; Supplying the world.’, our 10-year strategy to support the industry following on from turmoil faced over these past few years, as we enter the next stages of the recovery journey.
Iain Baxter
CEO of Scotland Food & Drink
Iain Baxter is the CEO of Scotland Food & Drink; the leadership organisation responsible, through the Scotland Food and Drink partnership, for the development and delivery of the National Food and Drink Strategy.
With over 15 years of experience in the global drinks industry, Iain has held senior executive positions at global companies including Glenmorangie and Inver House Distilleries.
In addition, Iain has held directorships and consulted in Housing and Transport including Sales and Marketing Director at the Caledonian Sleeper. As the CEO of Scotland Food & Drink, Iain brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and passion to drive the growth and success of the Scottish food and drink industry.
Contact IainCarol Saunders
Head of Insight for Scotland Food & Drink
I am looking forward to playing my part in this year’s conference and in presenting, will provide a temperature check from a consumer perspective whilst outlining the importance of buying local to Scottish businesses and shoppers alike.
Carol Saunders
Head of Insight for Scotland Food & Drink
Carol Saunders is the Head of Insight for Scotland Food & Drink; the leadership organisation responsible, through the Scotland Food and Drink partnership, for the development and delivery of the National Food and Drink Strategy.
Within SF&D, Carol’s role is to champion insight to drive growth for Scottish Food and Drink businesses and to deliver this through The Knowledge Bank, a fantastic online resource providing an extensive range of category reports, industry & market insight and webinars.
Carol has over 20 years of commercial and insight led experience across large global businesses including Coca-Cola, Heineken, C&C and Highland Spring, but also understands the perspective of smaller organisations, having worked most recently with Brewgooder, a rising purpose led star in the world of Craft Beer.
Provenance is high on the agenda for Scottish Food and Drink businesses, and Carol is passionate about equipping the industry with the insight that unlocks opportunities in Scotland, the UK and Export markets.
Contact CarolAlastair Dobson
Managing Director of Taste of Arran
It is a defining time for the Scottish Food and Drink sector , the farmers and growers and the value-add manufacturers, we are facing into the well-known challenges of food security, BREXIT, COVID effect, skills and labour shortages all resulting in a heightened cost of doing business , at the same time investing in transformational productivity and net zero planning. The launch of the new strategy for the sector could not come at a better time to position out industry in Scotland and globally, sustaining our country and helping supply the world.
Alastair Dobson
Managing Director of Taste of Arran
Alastair Dobson, comes from a farming background and studied agriculture at West of Scotland Agricultural College. He returned to the family business in the mid-eighties to help establish Arran Dairies where he is now Managing Director. He is also Managing Director of Taste of Arran Ltd.
Arran Dairies Ltd is a manufacturing dairy business that also has a wholesaling division that wholesales all catering supplies to hospitality and catering businesses on the Isle of Arran.
Manufactured products include premium dairy Arran Ice Cream which is market, sold and distributed by Alastair’s other business, Taste of Arran. Taste of Arran is a collaborative business primarily manufacturing, promoting, selling and distributing food and drink from 10 SME food companies on the Isle of Arran throughout the UK and abroad.
Alastair takes an active role on a number of sector specific and wider economic and community development boards.
Ewan Reid
Managing Director at Move Fresh
We are delighted to be part of the discussion on market access and scaling Scottish food & drink businesses at this year’s conference.
Ewan Reid
Managing Director at Move Fresh
Originally graduating as a food scientist, Ewan has held a variety of technical, leadership and board roles in food businesses over the last three decades. Ewan joined direct to consumer food fulfilment specialists Move Fresh based in Livingston as Managing Director in 2022. Move Fresh specialise in D2C food and drink solutions for ambient, chilled, and frozen. Move Fresh operations and technology easily integrate leading platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce making the Move Fresh warehouse, systems, and expert team an extension of customer operations. This leaves customers to focus on brand building and increasing sales.
Jacine Rutasikwa
Co-founder of Matugga Distillers
Delighted to share my journey as an entrepreneur at this year’s conference and how we’re working to put Scottish Rum on the global rum map – Jacine Rutasikwa, Matugga Distillers
Jacine Rutasikwa
Co-founder of Matugga Distillers
Jacine is co-founder of Matugga Distillers, which launched the first rum distillery in Central Scotland in 2018. Prior to Matugga, Jacine was a Chartered Marketer with over 20 years’ experience in media and marketing in the U.K and the U.S. She obtained a degree from the University of Birmingham and a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. Jacine is also an Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland.
Kristian Tapaninaho
Founder and Co-CEO of Ooni Pizza Ovens
Kristian and Christie are delighted to be part of this year's conference to tell the story of how Ooni Pizza Ovens has evolved over the last 11 years!
Kristian Tapaninaho
Founder and Co-CEO of Ooni Pizza Ovens
Kristian Tapaninaho is the Founder and Co-CEO of Ooni. Originally from Finland, he is the inventor of the world’s first portable wood-fired oven in 2012 and along with that the category of the modern pizza oven. Through the spark of this initial idea, Kristian’s gone on to set the world alight with a range of innovative products and leads a world-class team building the future of Ooni.
Christie McCluskey
General Counsel at Ooni Pizza Ovens
Christie McCluskey
General Counsel at Ooni Pizza Ovens
Christie McCluskey is the General Counsel of Ooni. She joined in March 2022 to set up Ooni’s first in-house legal team. Prior to that, Christie was in-house at William Grant & Sons. She’s from the West Coast of Scotland, and has studied at Glasgow University, Sydney University and King’s College London.
Martin Bell
Deputy Director - Trade at the Scotch Whisky Association
Brodies’ Food and Drink Conference has become an established fixture in the calendar. I’m looking forward to sharing some thoughts on where Scotch Whisky stands, where it’s going and why.
Martin Bell
Deputy Director - Trade at the Scotch Whisky Association
An international trade lawyer by background, Martin Bell is Deputy Director - Trade at the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). He has 20 years’ experience of trade policy at the SWA, focusing on opening new export opportunities for the industry worldwide through tackling market access barriers, and representing the industry in trade negotiations and disputes, up to and including the World Trade Organisation. Martin chairs the International Business Committee of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, is a Board member of the World Spirits Alliance and, until Brexit, chaired the trade committee of spiritsEUROPE for a decade. He also sits on a number of UK Government trade advisory groups and is a graduate of Edinburgh University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Steve Mitchell
Managing Director at The Buffalo Farm
Steve is delighted to join this conference, where he shares his journey from buffalo farming to successfully expanding into a mozzarella venture, which can now be found on the shelves of Aldi stores across Scotland.
Steve Mitchell
Managing Director at The Buffalo Farm
Proudly continuing a farming legacy dating back to Robert Mitchell in the 1800s, Steve Mitchell established The Buffalo Farm in 2005 to bring something different to local markets. The introduction of buffalo meat quickly set them apart, with customers appreciating its exceptional taste and quality.
Starting as a small experiment, the overwhelming demand prompted the creation of a thriving buffalo business. Their commitment to the welfare and nourishment of their animals remains the heart and soul of the enterprise.
Steve ventured into buffalo mozzarella production in 2019, inspired by customer requests and a visit from renowned chef Gordon Ramsay. This expansion marked the farm's entry into a unique market as Scotland's first Buffalo Mozzarella producer.
Today, Buffalo Farm operates two butcher shops, a destination farm shop and a coffee shop and bistro, alongside supplying an ever-expanding network of shops including Aldi, wholesalers, restaurants, and hotels. Their dedication to quality and innovation continues to thrive alongside their enduring farming heritage.