Co-ops have met with Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing to discuss the potential for more collaboration within Scotland’s farming, food and drink industries.
The visits, to Montrose and Laurencekirk, let the Cabinet Secretary hear from two of Scotland’s most successful co-operatives about their ‘co-op advantage’ – pooling resources, economies of scale, sharing best practice and leading-edge technologies.
The Cabinet Secretary said a key feature of the government's vision for agriculture is that the sector, and the wider agri-food supply chain, is "resilient to shocks and to future challenges."
"Collaboration among farmers, and between farmers and other parts of the food chain, builds such resilience as it takes advantage of economies of scale, shares best practice and benefits from a stronger price-negotiating position," Mr Ewing said.
"This can only be a good thing for the industry as it adds significant economic and other benefits and the Scottish Government is keen to work with SAOS to encourage and support further co-operative activity."
George Lawrie, Chairman, explained SAOS’ reasons for the invitation: "Co-operation is about self-help and accepting responsibility for determining our own future.
"Co-operative business is more crucial than ever for Scottish agriculture and we want to demonstrate to the Cabinet Secretary how our co-operation in farming, food and drink provides opportunities and resilience that are required for success in these changing times."
The visit commenced at daffodil and potato marketing co-op, Grampian Growers, at Craigo, Montrose, providing its directors the opportunity to share their success story as a relatively small co-op of growers, punching well above its weight with worldwide exports, as well as their current challenges.
'Huge potential for further co-operation'
Mark Clark, Managing Director of Grampian Growers and also Vice Chairman of SAOS, said the industry are "delighted" that the Cabinet Secretary was keen to find out more co-operatives.
"The huge potential for Scotland’s farming, food and drink industries through further co-operation and collaboration," Mr Clark said.
The second visit was to Ringlink Scotland’s headquarters in Laurencekirk.
Ringlink is Scotland’s largest machinery ring, with a membership of 2700 and a staff of 36.
Chairman, Andrew Moir, commented: "We welcomed the opportunity to tell the Cabinet Secretary more about the work of Ringlink and, in particular, to highlight the immense value that our internship programme offers to the future of our industry.
"We had a good discussion about possible ways for the internship to achieve national recognition".
George Lawrie concluded: "The Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture highlights the importance of agriculture, the environment and the wider economy in Scotland.
"Co-ops deliver valuable productivity and resource efficiency as well as resilience to challenges such as market volatility and climate change.
