About the Industry
Next time you are out shopping, pause for a moment and think about your
favourite food and drink products. Then try to visualise how they got into your local
shop. You may not know it, but the products you like to pop into your basket are
there because of the efforts of literally thousands of people working in
different industries in the UK food chain.
And our industry is the vital link in that food chain, because we take what's
grown by farmers and turn it into the products that are sold by retailers and
caterers to their customers.
Given the choice now available in supermarkets and catering establishments, you
will not be surprised to learn that manufacturing is an incredibly diverse
sector. For instance: did you know there are something like 6,500 food and drink
manufacturing companies in the UK alone? Or that most of them employ fewer than
10
people? That's why we have members large and small, involved in making
everything
from organic muesli to carbonated soft drinks.
Our industry is focused on delivering what consumers want and we have excelled
when it comes to meeting your demands for convenience, variety and choice; for
products that offer health and nutrition benefits; and, of course, for ever
keener pricing.
Food and drink manufacturing is an intensely competitive sector and has been
consolidating in recent years through mergers and acquisitions. Nevertheless
there
is still room in Scotland for small to medium-sized enterprises to flourish,
often producing specialist food products for consumers around the world.
We are also part of a global food industry, embracing worldwide sourcing and
supply of ingredients. In Scotland, the industry generates exports worth £3.57bn.
For some companies, exporting products to overseas markets is vital to the
success of their operations; others have operations in many countries, producing a
wide range of products under well-known brand names.
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