Delighted to be here at Europe’s largest food service exhibition.
Great to see a wide range of Scottish trade organisations, food producers and journalists present.
Both Bocuse D’or and SIRHA attract visitors from all over the world giving us a global audience to promote to, and communicate with.
Recognise the hard work that Scottish Development International has undertaken in their efforts to set up the Scotland Food and Drink Stand.
This is an exciting time for Scotland’s Food and Drink sector, both at home and abroad.
The sector has seen sales increase by a billion pounds over 2007- 2008 from £10.2 billion to £11.2 billion.
And Scottish food and drink exports are growing: by 15% between 2007 and 2009.
It is a fantastic achievement for both Quality Meat Scotland & Seafood Scotland to have secured the selection of Scotch lamb and Scottish seafood (Monkfish, Brown Crab and Langoustines) as the central elements of this year’s prestigious Bocuse D’Or competition.
These selections offer the Scottish food and drink industry a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of the range of great Scottish produce and build our reputation as a ‘Land of Food and Drink’.
There are over six thousand chefs here and almost 150 thousand visitors expected.
So there is certainly enormous potential for increased exposure for Scotland’s food and drink.
The high regard for prime Scottish produce that consumers at home and abroad have can only be further enhanced by this accolade.
But perhaps we should not be too surprised, after all Scotch lamb has held Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status within the EU since 1996 and can also boost 20 years of quality assurance behind its name.
The awarding of the Bocuse d’Or seafood supply contract to Scotland also offers us a fantastic opportunity to showcase the outstanding quality of our delicious, healthy and sustainably sourced seafood.
Fish and Shellfish made up 60% of our overseas food exports in 2009.
And events like this provide an excellent platform to help increase exports.
I congratulate Seafood Scotland and Quality Meat Scotland for their efforts in securing such high profile use of Scotland’s produce.
Quality and provenance are increasingly important to the shopper, even in these austere times.
The Scottish food and drinks industry has shown time and time again that it can deliver a wide range of premium products to enjoy and savour.
And the presence of so many flagship Scottish food companies here today demonstrates their willingness to exploit every opportunity to grow their businesses.
As Cabinet Secretary I am immensely proud of our food industry, whose sterling efforts underpin Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink.
