Measuring the Success of Scotland's National Food and and Drink Policy. Food and Drink Indicators. Update on Progress, November 2012.

This paper provides updated data for the Food and Drink Technical Indicators used to measure the success of Scotland's National Food and Drink Policy.


Summary of Food and Drink Indicators for Scotland

Headline Indicator Why chosen Assessment
1 Food and drink[4] Gross Value Added (GVA) Measures the contribution of the sector to the overall economy in Scotland.

Desired change: increase
GVA in the food and drink growth sector[5] was £4.6bn in 2010[6], down from £4.7bn in 2008[7].
2 Food and drink overseas exports Exports can indicate that the food and drink sector is accessing foreign markets successfully and that demand for Scottish products is strong.

Desired change: increase
The value of food and drink overseas exports increased by 52% between 2007 and 2011 from £3.5bn to £5.4bn.
3 Retail sales of Scottish food and drink brands in GB The value of retail expenditure on Scottish brands contributes to the growth of the industry and reflects the spread, popularity and reputation of Scottish brands across GB.

Desired change: increase
The value of retail sales of Scottish food and drink brands in Great Britain over the period 2007 to 2012 increased by 28% from £1,401m to £1,797m.
4 Scottish Dietary Targets Targets are both food and nutrient based, these are part of the effort to try to tackle poor diet and obesity in Scotland.

Desired change: meet individual targets
Between 2001 and 2010 there has been a small increase in consumption of fruit and vegetables, brown bread and breakfast cereals. There have also been small decreases in consumption of saturated fat and non-milk extrinsic sugars (added sugars).
5 Net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture and related land use Rural land use is one of 6 chapters in the Report on Proposals and Policies on a low Carbon Scotland[8]. It sets out specific measures for reducing GHG emissions to meet Scotland's ambitious statutory targets.

Desired change: decrease
Net Scottish GHG emissions from agriculture and related land use activities decreased by 7.6% between 2007 and 2010 from 11.3 Mt CO2 equivalent to 10.5 Mt CO2 equivalent.
6 Food safety Food safety underpins consumer confidence in food production. Publically available information will drive up standards at food and drink premises.

Desired change: increase
In 2011/12 8,459 new businesses entered the Food Hygiene Information Scheme. In total there were 27,417 businesses in the scheme in 2011/12 with a pass rate of 87%. This compares to 2010/11 when 18,958 business were included in the scheme and the pass rate was 87%.
7 Food imports This indicator gives an indication of the extent to which we rely on overseas imports for food. This indicator could act as an early warning signal, monitoring changes could identify early signals of food supply disruptions for Scotland.

Desired change: if significant change acts as early warning
During the period 2007 to 2011 the value of overseas food imports into Scotland[9] increased by 44% from £0.67bn to £0.97bn. In volume terms, food imports increased 5% (-2% when animal feed is excluded) between 2007 and 2011.
8 Land for food production in Scotland Land has many competing uses - from farming and forestry to housing or industry. This indicator will monitor changes in the land available for food production, it is important for national food security to maintain capability to produce food.

Desired change: does not decrease
There has been little change in the total area on agricultural holdings between 2007 and 2012. Land used for crop production was 10.7% of total area for 2007 and 10.5% for 2012[10].
9 Access to supermarkets and convenience stores Access to food stores gives an indication of the accessibility to food in Scotland.

Desired change: higher levels in rural areas
In 2010 the share of the population within 15 minutes driving time to a food store in Scotland was 100% for urban and accessible rural areas in Scotland, while it was 90% for those in remote rural areas in Scotland.

Supporting Indicator Why chosen Assessment
10 Food and drink labour productivity Food and drink labour productivity can give an indication of how competitive the food and drink industry is relative to other industries or internationally.

Desired change: increase
Labour productivity of Scottish food and drink manufacturing overall decreased by 3.8% over the period 2008[11] to 2010.
11 Food and drink manufacturing businesses by size The number of food and drink companies based in Scotland gives an indication of how competitive the food and drink manufacturing industry is. Changes in the structure provides an indication of the scale of the industry. Scotland Food and Drink aim to increase the scale of the food and drink industry in Scotland.

Desired change: higher share of large businesses
Between 2008[12] and 2012, the structure of food and drink enterprises registered in Scotland remained broadly similar. In 2012, and in terms of employment, 84% of food and drink enterprises were small, 12% were medium and 3% were large[13].
12 Research and development spend as proportion of food and drink manufacturing Gross Value Added R&D has the potential to increase growth in the long run. Increased R&D in food and drink manufacturing could lead to increased growth and competitiveness.

Desired change: increase
Research and Development spending in food and drink manufacturing as a percentage of GVA increased from 0.19% 2008 to 0.28% in 2010[14].
13 Food and drink spend by UK tourists Tourism spend contributes to the industry's growth through increased food and drink sales and GVA. This also gives an indication of the reputation of Scotland as a land of food and drink.

Desired change: increase
In 2011, GB tourist expenditure on food and drink in Scotland was £604m. This is almost £100m higher than the 2007 level of expenditure reported for the UK.
14 Expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages as a percentage of household expenditure by income decile Food insecurity can be measured at different levels, including the household level. This indicator gives an indication of levels of food insecurity at the household level by showing affordability of food.

Desired change: lower share expenditure by income decile
For households in the lowest income decile (or the ten per cent of total households who earn the lowest incomes), 15.2% of their total expenditure was on food and non-alcoholic drink in 2010 compared to 16.0% in 2007. For the highest income decile (or the ten per cent of total households that earn the highest incomes) 9.7% of expenditure was on food and non-alcoholic drinks in 2007 and 2010.
15 Agricultural produce per capita This is a measure of a country's ability to produce food to feed its population. When it is presented per capita it gives an indication of how much of this produce could be allocated to each person in the country.

Desired change: no significant decrease
Agricultural production per capita in Scotland increased by 12% between 2007 and 2010 from £308 per capita to £344 per capita.
16 Food and packaging waste Waste should be avoided at every stage of the food and drink supply chain without compromising food safety. This indicator will monitor changes in waste and give an indication of whether the sector is becoming more sustainable.

Desired change: decrease
Between 2006 and 2009, food and packaging waste decreased by almost 70% from 28,028 tonnes to 8,766 tonnes.
17 GHG emissions from food and drink manufacturing This indicator monitors the contribution of food and drink manufacturing to Scottish GHG emissions. This will also give an indication of whether the food supply chain is becoming more sustainable or not.

Desired change: decrease
GHG emissions produced by the food, drink and tobacco[15] processing sector have decreased by 11% between 2007 and 2010 from 594 kt CO2 equivalent to 529 kt CO2 equivalent[16].
18 Participation in food and environment topic of Eco-Schools Scotland Educating children and young people using the food and environment topic within Eco-schools will give an indication of the number of children and young people engaging with food and environment issues.

Desired change: increase
Between 2007 and 2012, the number of local authority schools participating in the Eco-Schools programme increased by 25% from 2,456 in 2007 to 3,073 in 2012.

In 2011, 8.6% of registered schools were learning and teaching about food issues and in 2012 this had risen to 19.5%.

Contact

Email: Caroline Gregory

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