The Scottish Wholesale Association is working with the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) and Scotland Food & Drink to run another of our joint industry leading ‘Delivering Growth through Wholesale' training and education programme.

Run for the first time earlier this year, the programme is designed to improve and encourage engagement between Scottish producers and wholesalers, in a market worth £2.9billion to the Scottish economy.

Aimed at producers of all sizes, from new start-ups to established businesses and who need greater understanding and knowledge of the Scottish wholesale channel, the programme will commence with a two-part workshop providing producers with tools and information to help them maximise opportunities within the wholesale industry.

The live virtual workshops will take place over two half days and will introduce the wholesale industry, the size of the opportunity, how wholesale works and the benefits and opportunities it can deliver for producers. It will provide insight into what wholesalers are looking for and give insider tips on managing relationships and maximising sales once a listing is agreed.

Delegates will receive a suite of tools to help them make the most of the opportunities in Wholesale and will receive one to one expert support following the workshops (either in person or virtual) to support producers in applying learnings to develop engagement strategies appropriate for their business.

Feedback from the first cohort of delegates, earlier this year, was incredibly positive:

John Farley from Sutherlands of Portsoy:

‘The Delivering Growth Through Wholesale program was exceptionally helpful to our business. We found the one to one session after the workshop invaluable and have taken so much from the programme that will help us in exploring wholesale opportunities and in the business more widely.  The programme gave us the ability to link directly with the specific product buyer, making getting a listing significantly easier than trawling through possible contacts.  I’d encourage other food and drink producers to take part if they have the opportunity.’

Duncan Alexander at 71 Brewing:

‘I found the DGTW programme incredibly valuable. After taking part in DGTW I secured a meeting with a major food service wholesaler. Without the workshop sessions and the one to one mentoring I think I may have gone off in completely the wrong direction when I met them.  I’m pleased to say that I was able to apply what I’d learnt, had a great meeting and ultimately secured a listing.’

To maximise the opportunity for producers, a number of workshops have been planned over the coming months:

Tues. 29th and Wed. 30th November 2022
Tues. 6th and Wed. 7th December 2022
Tues. 10th and Thurs. 12th January 2023
To book your place please click here: Book My Place

Applications close at 11.30pm on Wednesday 16th November.