« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
1. Introduction
1.1 Background to the research
In February 2008, the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate ( RERAD) commissioned DTZ to carry out research to explore how much Scottish food and drink primary produce is processed in Scotland. This report is an update of similar research conducted by DTZ in 2007. The aim is to reveal changes in the origins and destinations of Scottish primary produce drawing on two sources:
- the new Scottish Input-Output tables published in November 2007, and
- views of Scottish food and drink processors.
The research provides part of the evidence base to inform future policy interventions.
The DTZ team included in-house experts in input-output modelling and the agri-food sector while additional expertise was provided by Research Resource, a firm of survey specialists.
1.2 Overview of study method
The study methodology had three elements:
1. input-output analysis forming a top-down measurement of food processing activity;
2. Benchmarking of Scottish input-output results with a selection of other countries;
3. Telephone survey of Scottish processors to establish the main issues in relation to sourcing and processing Scottish food and drink primary produce.
A summary of the stages of the methodology is shown in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 Overview of methodology
1.3 Acknowledgements
DTZ acknowledges the co-operation and involvement of the processors who gave up their time to participate in the survey. In addition, we are grateful to Scottish Government economists for their contribution to providing unpublished input-output data for the research.
1.4 Report Structure
The remainder of the report is set out in the following way:
Section 2 - sets out the sales and purchases of Scottish primary produce and sales of Scottish processed food by type of purchaser
Section 3 - benchmarks Scotland's performance in processing primary produce against a sample of other EU countries (Italy, Austria, Denmark and Poland)
Section 4 - sets out the results of the processor survey.
Section 5 - sets out the conclusions to the work.
« Previous | Contents | Next »