Price controls on essential foods: partial business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA)

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

2.1 Business/Third Sector engagement

At the time of publication, policy development has been informed by analysis of available evidence relating to food affordability, food insecurity, retail markets and food supply chains. The consultation is intended to further develop the evidence base through engagement with businesses, third sector organisations and other stakeholders who may be affected by, or have an interest in, the proposals.

The Scottish Government intends to engage with a broad range of stakeholders during the consultation period, including:

• Grocery retailers operating in Scotland, including supermarkets, convenience retailers and representative bodies.
• Food producers, processors, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.
• Business representative organisations.
• Organisations representing small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Consumer organisations.
• Anti-poverty organisations and food insecurity charities.
• Public health and nutrition organisations.
• Other relevant third sector stakeholders.

Stakeholder engagement undertaken to date

The approach to engagement has been to engage early and proactively with business and economic stakeholders at both official and ministerial level to understand potential impacts, identify implementation considerations and ensure that stakeholder views have helped shape the consultation.

Officials have undertaken structured engagement with stakeholders across the food supply chain, including retailers, producers and business representative organisations.

This has included regular engagement with the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and its members, as well as food and drink businesses and wider industry representatives, to provide information on proposals, gather evidence and understand potential impacts.

Ministers have also met with a range of stakeholders, including the SRC, major retailers, the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS), the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), the Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) and the Scotch Wholesale Association (SWA), to understand sector-specific issues and concerns.

Engagement has been undertaken with businesses of different sizes and operating across different parts of the food supply chain, helping to ensure that a broad range of perspectives and potential impacts are understood. This has included engagement with representatives of both large retailers and smaller businesses, recognising that the proposals may affect different parts of the sector in different ways.

This has been supported by ongoing official-level engagement to explore technical, operational and implementation considerations in greater detail.

Evidence has been gathered through a combination of stakeholder engagement, published evidence and data, policy analysis, one to one discussions and industry roundtables.

The Regulatory Review Group has been engaged during policy development, and its feedback has helped inform consideration of regulatory burden, proportionality and implementation issues.

Engagement will continue throughout the consultation period, including through further discussions with stakeholders and a planned stakeholder summit bringing together representatives from across the food supply chain to discuss the proposals and their potential impacts.

Following the consultation, officials will continue to engage with businesses and stakeholders to inform policy development, implementation planning and the monitoring and review of any measures taken forward.

Engagement activity is expected to include written consultation responses, stakeholder meetings, roundtable discussions and sector-specific engagement events. This approach is intended to ensure that evidence is gathered from across the food supply chain and from organisations representing consumers and communities who may be affected by any future intervention.

Consistent with the New Deal for Business and the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance, engagement will seek to understand the practical implications, costs, benefits and potential unintended consequences of the proposals. Particular attention will be given to understanding impacts on different business models, including large retailers, independent retailers, franchise operators and geographical considerations.

Evidence gathered through the consultation and engagement will inform further policy development and subsequent iterations of the BRIA.

2.2 Internal SG Engagement

Policy development has involved engagement across relevant areas of the Scottish Government, including officials with responsibility for food policy, agriculture and rural affairs, public health, child poverty, social justice, economic policy, competition and consumer policy, and analytical services.

As policy development progresses, engagement will continue with relevant policy teams to assess potential interactions with existing and emerging policy initiatives relating to cost-of-living support, food security, public health, nutrition, rural economies and economic growth.

Engagement with relevant assurance, regulatory and economic policy colleagues, including consideration of potential investment and business impacts, will continue throughout policy development and inform future versions of the BRIA

Officials will continue to engage with relevant corporate and analytical functions as the evidence base develops and as the policy position is refined following consultation.

2.3 UK/ Devolved Administrations

Officials have undertaken preliminary consideration of relevant policy developments and regulatory frameworks operating elsewhere in the UK and internationally, including examples of food price controls implemented in other jurisdictions.

During and following consultation, the Scottish Government will engage as appropriate with UK Government departments and the Devolved Governments to discuss evidence, implementation issues and lessons from related policy activity where relevant.

2.4 Wider Public Sector

As policy development is at an early stage, the full implications for the wider public sector have not yet been determined. Any future scheme may have resource implications for bodies with responsibilities for compliance, monitoring and enforcement.

Further engagement is planned with COSLA, local authorities, enterprise agencies, the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) and other relevant bodies to better understand any operational, enforcement and resource implications of the proposals.

Evidence gathered through this engagement will inform future policy development and the final BRIA.

2.5 Other Key Stakeholder

Given the interconnected nature of food supply chains, the Scottish Government intends to engage with a broad range of stakeholders beyond those directly affected by any future regulatory requirements. This may include academics, consumer representatives, public health organisations, food security organisations and bodies representing different parts of the domestic and international food supply chain.

The Scottish Government will also continue to consider evidence from international jurisdictions that have introduced or examined food price controls and will engage with relevant experts where appropriate to understand lessons learned from these experiences.

2.6 Public consultation

This Partial BRIA accompanies a public consultation on the proposals for price controls on selected essential food items.

The consultation will run from 1 September 2026 until 24 November 2026 and seeks views on both the proposed price cap model and alternative approaches, including maintaining the current position without introducing food price controls.

The consultation will be published on the Scottish Government's consultation platform and promoted through stakeholder networks and representative organisations. Responses will be invited from consumers, businesses, representative bodies, third sector organisations, academics, regulators and other interested parties.

To support participation from a broad range of stakeholders, the Scottish Government will undertake a programme of engagement alongside the written consultation, including targeted discussions and stakeholder events. This will include specific engagement with businesses operating across food retail and supply chains and with organisations representing groups most affected by food affordability pressures.

Consultation events are planned, including a Fair Foods Summit following the consultation launch. Feedback gathered through consultation responses and engagement activity will be analysed and used to inform future policy development and subsequent versions of the BRIA.