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  6. How Buck & Birch incorporate tourism into their food and drink business

How Buck & Birch incorporate tourism into their food and drink business

3 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Buck & Birch are producers of award-winning craft Scottish spirits and liqueurs. They have distillery and visitor centre in Macmerry, East Lothian. 

Business partners Thomas Chisholm and Rupert Waites met working in the hospitality industry and are the drive behind the business.

Their produce aims to offer "a real sense of place", and  their dining experiences for visitors are designed to be immersive.

In this article:

  • Starting out
  • Developing the business
  • Next steps for Buck & Birch

Starting out

Thomas and Rupert first started to work together in 2011, running popular pop-up dinners in Portobello, Edinburgh with homemade drinks to accompany the food. Visitors loved the experience, and the elder liqueur was especially well-received, with many requests to buy a bottle.

Having listened to the positive feedback about the liqueurs, they decided to test the market.

“We knew our product was distinctive and had a good story behind it. So we made 200 bottles and gave them to friends in hospitality. The result was positive, and we were quickly stocked in a number of sites in Edinburgh, including Tom Kitchin’s restaurants, Harvey Nichols, and Royal Mile Whiskies.”

Developing the business

A spirit bottle from Buck and Birch

Wild botanical spirit from Buck & Birch

© Buck & Birch

A key moment for Thomas and Rupert was connecting with East Lothian Food & Drink. They supported them to take a stand at the Royal Highland Show by offering a subsidised exhibitor rate. The experience was a turning point for the business.

“The opportunity to showcase and sell the liqueurs was pivotal, as it gave us the opportunity to speak to visitors and take feedback. This was valuable, tailored market research at an early stage in the business resulting in new connections with key buyers.”

To further develop the business, they took on two rounds of investment. This proved to be an important step, helping them to streamline the business, set clear targets for growth and get some capital to develop their operation.

New premises and experiences

In 2019, they moved to their new premises in East Lothian creating an experience for the public and travel trade visitors, running foraging tours and courses. These experiences visit a local community woodland that the restaurant uses to sustainably harvest ingredients, offering an authentically Scottish experience.

“The aim is to show people the local environment, in which we harvest the ingredients for the drinks and engage visitors with nature and rural skills.

Their visitor experiences give the brand a great opportunity to engage visitors. It helps them understand more about the brand story and engages them with the ethos of the brand and local environment.

"What we do is authentic and different."

Next steps for Buck & Birch

We're excited to team up with Papple Steading which is nearby to offer a new visitor-facing attraction. We'll be offering wild feast dining experiences!

The future looks exciting for Buck & Birch with sustainability a focus. They’re developing some “interesting initiatives to minimise waste and packaging”. And they have a keen interest in using foraged products for garnishes, rather than imports. They believe that visitors want to know where their food comes from.

Excitingly, they have teamed up with Papple Steading nearby to offer a new visitor-facing attraction. Events include wild feast dining experiences with seven-or-nine-course dinners with specially paired drinks and lots of wild cocktails.

It’ll have an event space, a tasting room and a forest food garden, and offer dining events and forest walks. The new facility will give them a new space, in which they can tell their story and sell their product, all whilst sharing their passion for their corner of East Lothian and its wild ingredients.

Create your own quality food experience

Creating a memorable food experience for customers helps to increase your revenue and boost the local economy. Customers love authentic experiences which tell the story of your business, the local area and Scotland’s history and culture.

Create a new food and drink experience

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