Jim Fairlie: It is so important that we fight to protect 'Scotland the Brand' – and not just for our food and drink industry

From single malts to master blends Scotch whisky took the world by storm and now generates billions of pounds for Scotland’s economy.

Recognising that success, former cabinet secretary Richard Lochhead was inspired to set up the National Food and Drink Policy for Scotland, with the aim of driving up exports and promoting our vast larder of world-class produce to foreign and domestic markets alike.

Its success has been phenomenal. Food and drink is now the fastest growing sector in our economy and is the largest manufacturing sector accounting for almost 19 per cent of our total manufacturing output.

Iconic Scottish brand names like Walkers Shortbread, Stornaway black pudding, Arbroath smokies, Scotch beef lamb and specially selected pork are all synonymous with world-class foods of exceptional quality and provenance. The Saltire is the standard bearer depicting that this product is truly uniquely Scottish. It is the branding of our products which underpins our worldwide reputation and is absolutely crucial in creating that point of sale difference which drives consumer purchasing decisions.

The farming, food and drink industry supports 360,000 jobs, and has just set a new target for itself of generating £30 billion for the Scottish economy by 2030. Given it currently generates just under £14.4bn, that shows incredible ambition, but it’s ambition which is completely justifiable.

Since 2007 and the advent of the National Food and Drink Policy, exports of food and drink have doubled to £5.5bn. This is a success story like very few others, and one that all of us in the industry can be hugely proud of, while at the same time keeping a weather eye on the threats to its continuing success.

And one of the main drivers of that success is the strength of the Scottish brand. Scotch and Brand Scotland delivers for our industry.

The team at Scotland Food and Drink work incredibly hard and their dedication is paying off. Quality Meat Scotland are doing likewise for our red meat sectors, so we should have a degree of confidence going forward – shouldn’t we?

As Brexit looms, it’s clear that the new trading arrangements which the industry will have to work under means it’s more vital than ever that our iconic brands and provenance are protected. Therefore, it beggars belief that the UK Government failed to put a single Protected Geographical Indicator PGI in place for any of our iconic world-recognised brands in the recently signed Comprehensive European Trade Association or CETA deal.

PGIs are the protections put in place by the EU to protect products like champagne or Scotch beef and lamb. So if beef or lamb is labelled as Scotch it must have been born reared and slaughtered here in Scotland, giving consumers guaranteed peace of mind that it is what it says on the label. The same thing has happened with the Japan trade deal.

So what is the rationale behind that decision?

Scott Walker, CEO of the National Farmers Union of Scotland has rightly lambasted the UK Government for what he calls the mistake. But was it a mistake?

Quality Meat Scotland lobbied vigorously for Scotch red meat to be included long before the CETA deal was signed. The UK Government argued that because we didn’t currently have any food trading arrangements with Canada, the Scotch PGI was unnecessary, despite Scotch salmon already being sold in Canada. The CETA deal wasn’t signed until after the Brexit vote, so why did the UK Government not want the premium grabbing Scotch or Brand Scotland protected?

Did they really not recognise that our future trading arrangements would require Unique Selling Points with a globally respected brand?

Or was the strength of our Brand Scotland exactly what they didn’t want to see?

It would appear that the Saltire is now being portrayed as divisive and negative especially in our biggest market in England. We are seeing soft fruit grown in Perthshire being sold with the UK Government’s brand of choice, the Union flag, as opposed to the Saltire.

We are told that the British whisky industry is a valued contributor to the UK GDP, and that the British food and drink sector is showing tremendous growth potential.

They say that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, so while the Scottish Government can feel flattered, it has to also recognise the enormous threat to our ongoing success.

As James Withers, CEO of Food and Drink Scotland, said, “to be seen to be a good food nation, we actively have to be a good food nation”.

And the same goes for independence. If we want to be an independent country, we have to act like an independent country. Therefore, protecting our successes, in fact, reviling in them, celebrating them and being even more ambitious for them is a must.

Independent countries don’t allow their unique identities to be undermined or subsumed; they don’t allow other countries to claim their successes and they certainly don’t allow their brands to be used against them, stuck in a drawer or hidden away by a bigger neighbour who feels threatened by our growing confidence.

On reflection, perhaps it is that growing confidence, that new-found belief in ourselves and emanating from almost every sector in Scotland today, that is the real threat to the UK.

With that in mind, could it be said that Scotland the brand is about more than just an economic benefit?

Perhaps Scotland the brand is the visual embodiment of that most threatening prospect for the UK, a resurgent, confident, ambitious Scotland, teeming with resources and a larder that is the envy of the world. All of that underpinned by a brand that is recognised and respected the world over.

If that is the case, surely it must be up to us all to protect it with everything we have.

Jim Fairlie was the founder of Scotland’s first Farmers Market in Perth in 1999 and co-founder of Farming for Yes.