SGF Go Local Programme – Rural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Visits Scotmid Store in Broxburn

SGF were delighted to welcome - along with colleagues from Scotmid, Scotland Food and Drink and Quality Meat Scotland - the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon MSP to Scotmid’s Broxburn store at 91-95 East Main Street to mark the progress of the second phase of the SGF Go Local Programme which aims to support convenience stores the length and breadth of Scotland to provide dedicated, long-term display space for locally-sourced Scottish products.

The original 10-store pilot was launched on 1 December 2020 and ran until June 2021. This was following a robust selection process, where SGF chose 10 geographically and demographically diverse stores across a range of fascia groups to prove proof of concept. Each store received match-funding.

The trial was hugely successful and resulted in a 34% increase in the number of local products stocked thanks to more space dedicated to them, and a 40% rise in sales of local produce at shops that took part. And across all stores, the performance of Scottish products outperformed the rest of the store. The pilot also resulted in an average annual local multiplier effect of £694k and an average local multiplier increase of £221k per store further emphasising the benefits of programme.

The key achievements of the pilot in supporting the economic recovery and the local economy has led to phase 2 of the SGF Go Local Programme which has been oversubscribed and is advancing with a further 21 retailers. This will also involve continuing to develop the original 10 pilot stores.

SGF are also pleased to confirm that there will be a virtual "Meet the Buyer" event organised by our programme partners, Scotland Food & Drink, to provide retailers with the opportunity to meet new suppliers and enhance their Scottish range. This will take place on 25th January 2022.

Rural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “I was delighted to visit the Broxburn store and see first-hand how the Go Local project has given consumers a greater choice of locally-produced, healthy food and drink.

“The initiative has also shown that our diverse and successful convenience store sector is ideally placed to give customers the greater choice of healthy produce they are looking for, while at the same time helping to achieve our net zero targets by reducing food miles.

“Convenience stores play a key role in our communities and I welcome the success of this project and look forward to seeing the sector build on this work and would urge customers to continue supporting their local shops.”

SGF chief executive Dr Pete Cheema OBE said: “The SGF Go Local programme has been an outstanding success to date and we are delighted that in recognition of this that the Cabinet Secretary has come to visit Scotmid’s Broxburn store to the see an excellent example of type of benefits the programme can bring to the local community through collaborative working. More broadly, the programme itself supports Scottish convenience retailers and provides local Scottish producers with a vital route to market while ensuring that customers have access to a wider range of fresh, healthy Scottish products.”

Scotland Food & Drink chief executive James Withers said: "Supporting the Scottish Grocers Federation with the Go Local project has been an excellent example of what can be achieved when the industry comes together to collaborate.

“With over 5000 convenience stores across Scotland, we understand that this is just the beginning and, there is a massive opportunity for us to demonstrate the value of stocking local Scottish products to the wider convenience sector.

"As we go into the second phase of the project, it's important we continue to provide opportunities for our local producers to show the sector the diverse range of high-quality food and drink products available and how these can fit well with their customer base."

Scotmid’s Local Sourcing Manager Kirsty George said: “Scotmid were delighted to be selected for the grant funding made available via the SGF Go Local programme and to be able to work alongside a host of partners in delivering this brilliant project. This is a great example of what can be achieved with collaborative working across industry and we are positive the outcome will have a great impact for our store and local community.”

The SGF Go Local programme was designed to aid the economic recovery of Scotland’s food and drink sector by increasing sales of Scottish local products in the convenience sector to help mitigate losses in other channels because of Covid-19.