We were delighted to host our 13th annual Food & Drink Conference in our Edinburgh office on Thursday 16 January.

We were delighted to host our 13th annual Food & Drink Conference in our Edinburgh office on Thursday 16 January. With over 200 people asking to attend, interest in the conference was so high we again had to open a waiting list, and reached full capacity on the day.

Our guest speakers and panellists, representing the full spectrum of food and drink businesses from producers to retailers, shared their views and experiences on a wide range of topics relevant to the food & drink sector. This year's line-up included:

Iain Baxter - Chief Executive Officer - Scotland Food & Drink
Alex Swinnerton - Buyer - Co-op
Stuart Common - Managing Director - Mackie's of Scotland
Nicola Aitchison - Head of Legal, Estate Brands, The Famous Grouse & Global Supply Chain - Edrington
Siân Edmunds - Senior Lawyer, Food, Feed & Products Law - Cargill
Paddy Fletcher - Co-founder and Co-CEO - Muckle Brig

The 13th Brodies Food and Drink Conference was our best-attended one so far – and what an event it was.

Discussions and stories flowed on national strategy delivery, brand journeys, ambitions, opportunities and challenges, and questions arose from our audience on legal, commercial and operational aspects of the food and drink sector. And, as always, our attendees also enjoyed a first-class lunch featuring delicious Scottish produce.

Some top takeaways from the event were:

A clearly defined customer persona and a good understanding of their preferences and behaviours is critical to many decisions that a business makes – including the type of product made (and those that do not make the cut), what the branding looks like and what channels are used to reach that target customer. Stuart Common, Managing Director at Mackie's of Scotland, was particularly passionate about this topic and emphasised its importance in the brand's ambitious journey from Scottish favourite to UK household name.
The 'overhang' of Brexit was mentioned a few times by panellists and members of our audience, including discussion of increasing divergence between the EU and the UK given the pace at which regulatory change is happening in the former. Our in-house legal counsel panellists confirmed that their approach to regulatory compliance leans towards the stricter EU approach for all products, rather than trying to implement separate approaches for UK products. There was particular discussion of the challenges of labelling regulations and navigating the EU's export protocols.
The diverse food and drink preferences and behaviours of local communities across Scotland and the UK is something to be celebrated, and plays an integral role in the interactions and relationships between retail giants and smaller producers. Scotland is one of the parts of the UK where consumers have a stronger preference for local products. Co-op's Alex Swinnerton explained how these buyer-producer relationships are forged and work best, as well as the efforts that go into ensuring local stores are selling what their local customers want.
There was a general consensus around the challenge of 'uncertainty' and the need to predict and manage what might be coming over the horizon. Whether that is stricter rules on environmental claims, requirements around labelling, packaging and advertising, or how climate change impacts policy decisions, there are many aspects to consider – and our food and drink team certainly keep their ears close to the ground on these and other issues, to anticipate what is coming next.

We are very grateful to all our speakers for their contributions, and for giving us their valuable time.

We also thank our attendees for choosing to spend their time with us, and hope everyone is already looking forward to sharing more success stories at next year's conference.