Turnover across Scotland’s 17,000 food and drink businesses has reached a record £19 billion, according to new figures, though the sector will struggle to meet a previous target.
Scotland Food & Drink chief executive Iain Baxter said the industry had grown in spite of numerous challenges, including Brexit, the pandemic and inflation.
However, the rate of growth also suggests that despite its success it will not achieve the target set in March 2017 to double the size of the industry to £30bn by 2030 from just over £14bn at the time.
The data is published by the Scottish Government from the Annual Business Survey and the Farming and Agricultural Census.
Mr Baxter told a Scotland Food & Drink reception in the Scottish Parliament yesterday: “Ordinarily we’d be toasting the success of industry growth, but with the new figures, we’re cautiously optimistic rather than celebratory.
“This has been achieved during some incredibly challenging times.
“It shows how the power of perseverance, ambition, partnership and continued investment in one of Scotland’s most valuable and resilient industries can ensure sustainable growth.
“Recent times also remind us of what is at stake, with global competition intensifying, increasing costs and the challenges of sustainability, availability of labour and workforce development needs continuing to grow, and these figures show that the Scottish food and drink industry has remained resilient in recent years despite these challenges.”
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