Success on a plate: boost your business by supplying restaurants and caterers
Two of Scotland's top chefs will be sharing their knowledge and experience of the catering and restaurant trade at a unique workshop designed to help food producers make the most of local supply chains.
Neil Forbes of Edinburgh's Atrium and Blue restaurants and Christopher Trotter, leading chef and food writer, will be joined by other food sector experts at Soil Association Scotland's February training event, Growing your business by supplying restaurants and caterers.
Participants will discover the ins and outs of food supply and demand, the benefits of using collaborative supply chains and the opportunities for growing their own businesses. Pam Rodway, Soil Association Scotland's Food for Life [1] manager will be on hand to discuss the practicalities of supplying local schools with produce for school meals.
The one-day workshop is part of the organic charity's horticulture support programme [2] and takes place at Teviot Row House, Bristo Square, Edinburgh, on Thursday 7 February. Cost £34.00 plus VAT.
To book a place or for more details, contact Lyn Matheson on 0131 666 0847 or email lmatheson@soilassociation.org
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Neil Forbes
Neil Forbes is executive chef at Atrium Restaurant and Blue in Edinburgh. After working in restaurants such as Braeval Le Manoir, with Raymond Blanc, the Waterside Inn, with Michel Roux, and the Royal Scotsman Train, Forbes stamped his personality on Atrium Restaurant when he became head chef eight years ago. He is an avid promoter of local and seasonal produce and his menus change daily, with the emphasis on quality and provenance of ingredients.
Christopher Trotter
Christopher Trotter is the author of several books on Scottish food and cooking. He is a passionate exponent of using fresh, local, seasonal and organic produce and is a leading chef demonstrator and writer on the subject. As proprietor of Momentum, he is consultant to a number of businesses and enterprise companies.
Sascha Grierson
Sascha Grierson is part of the family-run business, Hugh Grierson Organic, where their aim is to grow a healthy future by maintaining the balance between food production, staff, customers, livestock and the land. Their Perthshire farm produces organic Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs and potatoes, for direct sale to consumers through farm and speciality shops. They also supply restaurants and hotels. High standards of animal welfare and low food miles from farm to kitchen are important aims of their organic business.
Patricia Stephen
Patricia Stephen launched Phantassie Food in East Lothian ten years ago, selling produce to caterers and shops as well as supplying vegetable box schemes to a local and Edinburgh customer base. She has considerable experience in dealing with the catering sector, having been a restaurant manager and snackbar owner as well as having run a natural foods business – delivering to caterers and wholesalers – for 20 years.
Rona Sutherland
Rona Sutherland joined SAOS Co-operating Enterprises in July 2007. As supply chain development manager, she works with other partners to encourage better collaboration within food and drink supply chains. She spent ten years with Scottish Enterprise, working with the Scottish food and drink industry, and has also worked for IGD, managing a business mentoring scheme. While working as an independent management consultant, she took on a variety of contracts within the food industry.
Pam Rodway
Pam Rodway co-manages Wester Lawrenceton Farm in Moray, which produces award-winning organic raw-milk cheeses, free range eggs, lamb and fruit. As Soil Association Scotland's Food for Life (FFL) manager, she works with local authorities, schools, school caterers and local producers to introduce freshly prepared, local and organic food into school canteens. As a board member of Slow Food UK, she was involved in co-ordinating its founding congress in Skye in 2005, and has organised UK producer delegations to Terra Madre in Turin in 2004 and 2006.
