
Butchery at Bowhouse
Use local produce
Customers want to find, taste and enjoy the best local produce. It helps them to feel a connection with the area and celebrates Scottish identity and culture. Offering them a taste of local and traditional food and drink is an opportunity they may not get elsewhere.
Visitors to Scotland are prepared to pay more for products with provenance, potentially resulting in higher spending. Domestic visitors are also interested in local produce - four in five Scots would like to be able to buy more food and drink produced in Scotland.
Discover how to make local produce and suppliers an integral part of your food and drink business.
Make more from scratch
Create as many products and dishes from scratch as possible in your own kitchen. This helps you know the quality and ensure local and seasonal ingredients are used.
It also leads to more authentic stories – your staff can get to know what you’re serving and why and share that knowledge with the customers.
Review your menus
Start by building dishes and menus around the local produce available through suppliers. This will put the produce front and centre, rather than integrating touches into an existing menu.
Change the menus regularly
Local produce availability will change regularly, so your menu should reflect that. Check out our seasonal calendar to see what’s available when, and what kind of produce you can use each week, month or season.
Look at VisitScotland’s seasonal food calendar for ideas.
Follow health and nutrition advice
Check out the current recommendations for a healthy and balanced diet that celebrates Scotland's larder with the Scottish Eatwell Guide. It highlights the proportions of fruit and vegetables, carbohydrate foods, meat, dairy and more that we should all have in our diet.
Read more about the Scottish Eatwell Guide.