GUIDANCE FOR EVENT ORGANISERS APPLYING FOR
YEAR OF FOOD AND DRINK 2015 FUNDING
1. Background
The Year of Food and Drink is a chance to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s natural larder
and quality produce to our people and our visitors and to capitalise on the momentum created by
the previous Year of Food and Drink and Homecoming Scotland 2014. It is a Scottish Government
initiative being led by EventScotland and VisitScotland.
1.1 The Year of Food and Drink 2015 aims and objectives are to:
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Enhance Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink
Increase use and promotion of Scottish produce across the tourism and events industry
Increase level of satisfaction with food and drink amongst visitors to Scotland
Increase level of satisfaction with food and drink amongst event attendees
Increase contribution to the overall value of the sector from tourism and events
1.2 The proposed outcomes are:
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Raise awareness of quality Scottish produce at home and abroad
Further adoption of a “Food Charter” by events across Scotland and increased uptake by
tourism businesses in VisitScotland’s Taste our Best quality accreditation scheme.
Increased level of satisfaction (with food and drink amongst visitors to Scotland)
demonstrated through existing market research channels
More event attendees rating the quality of food and drink as high or very high
Increase in visitor spend on food and drink
1.3 It is therefore essential that the Year of Food and Drink programme of events:
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Features a quality, carefully sourced local catering offering
Is accountable to EventScotland for their catering offering
Promotes Scotland as a Land of Food and Drink
2. Application Information and Guidance:
2.1 Potential applicants are advised to contact EventScotland to discuss their applications in advance
of submitting an application form.
2.2 If your event is already supported via another EventScotland funding programme or if you are
planning to submit an application to the National Programme and you wish to apply for support
towards specific new food and drink activity for 2015, please contact EventScotland to discuss
before completing an application form.
2.3 Applications will also be accepted from events wishing to take part in Whisky Month – this will
be for whisky related events taking place 1 May – 31 May 2015.
2.4 Support will be offered to the events which best demonstrate the proposed new activity will
align with and contribute to the identified objectives and outcomes. Ideally the activity will be
sustainable and provide a legacy that will enable the event to improve, enhance and/or better
promote their quality local food and drink offering on an ongoing basis. Funding will not be
provided for core or capital purchase costs.
2.5 Event applications will be assessed on the basis of numbers of attendees at the event itself,
coupled with their potential reach through TV and media to push the messages of the Year to as
wide an audience as possible.
2.6 It is aimed to support a wide geographic spread of events taking place throughout 2015.
2.7 It is not intended that an award from this fund will provide all of the funding for any event.
Applications must demonstrate a viable budget showing additional income from alternative
sources. Any award cannot be used to fill a budget gap created by the withdrawal of another
funding source, nor can it substitute funding that would be invested by the local authority in the
event.
2.8 As a guide, applications from £2K up to a maximum value of £10k will be considered.
2.9 Successful applicants will be asked to attend a Food and Drink Workshop as part of their funding
agreement with EventScotland – the content for which will be produced in partnership with
Scotland Food & Drink and Scottish Enterprise Experience Scotland project. Dates and locations
for workshops will be provided during the contract process.
2.10 Successful applicants will also be asked to adhere to the principles and quality benchmarks
provided in the Food Charter as far as possible and to report back on this in the run up to and
after the event.
2.11 All events receiving funding awards through this programme must carry out visitor research, to
include specific questions relating to the food and drink offering at events, and complete an
outcome report on a template as provided by EventScotland.
2.12 Event funding for 2015 from The Community Food Fund will be channeled through this
programme and, as such, application information may be shared with colleagues at SRUC as
part of the assessment process. By submitting an application you are agreeing for this
information to be shared as noted. This means that events applying for funding for food and
drink related activity will only need to submit one application for support during 2015.
2.13 For additional guidance and information on using local produce at your event, please visit
www.readyforevents.co.uk and download the Taste for Events Guide. Additional case studies
and food and drink information can be found at EventScotland.org. A list of Scottish suppliers
is available at: www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/showcase.aspx
2.14
A calendar of themed months is attached as an appendix to these guidelines. This has been
produced by Scotland Food and Drink and Think Local. Events do not have to strictly align with
this calendar, however it is aimed at helping to promote the provenance and seasonality of
Scotland’s produce, through engagement with the food and drink and tourism and events
industries. Events aligning with and promoting these months will contribute to raising awareness
of Scotland as a Land of Food of Drink.
Application Deadlines:
3.1 If your event is not already supported via another EventScotland funding programme, and if you
are not eligible to submit an application to EventScotland’s National Programme in 2015, please
complete an application form and submit to EventScotland by the following deadlines:
3.2 For events taking place 1 January 2015 – 30 June 2015 (including Whisky Month events taking
place during May) Submit by Friday 3 October 2014
3.3 For events taking place 1 July 2015 – 31 December 2015 Submit by Friday 6 February 2015
APPENDIX A
Year of Food and Drink – Monthly Themes
As part of the Year of Food and Drink, a number of monthly themes have been developed, to focus on
seasonality, industry development, provenance and reputation. The monthly themes are listed as
follows:
Month
January
Theme
Traditional Foods
February
The Food of Love
March
Sustainable
Shores
Award
Winning
Food
Whisky Month
The Future of Food
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Summer Berries &
Fruits
Delicious Dairy
Celebration
Brewing
Distilling
Hearty
Heartwarming
Grand Finale
&
&
Outline
Building on the New Year traditions of steak pies and shortbread,
and through to Burns Night with haggis.
Foods associated with Valentine’s Day including oysters / other
seafoods, steak and chocolates.
A focus on fishing, seafood and salmon with a sustainability
theme.
Focus on Scotland Food & Drink Awards entries and previous
winners
Retained focus on whisky as in previous years.
Highlighting youth development including RHS and end of school
year, with focus on skills and innovation
Particular promotion of berries and Pick Your Own
Yoghurts & ice cream, creams, milk, butter & cheeses
Building on the food fortnight theme, events and products that
celebrate provenance and celebrate our food and drink
Celebrating Scottish beers and spirits (gin, vodka, liqueurs)
Especially meat dishes, vegetables and grains (including barley,
oats and rapeseed) – broths and stews
Premium foods for Christmas, including cheeses, relishes, pates.
A number of potential levels of involvement are envisaged:
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Leading delivery of a monthly theme, supported by others
Supporting the delivery of a monthly theme led by another representative body
Delivering product related activities at various points throughout the year e.g. Burns Night,
Christmas, Valentines, Whisky Month etc.
Supporting or delivering an event within one of the themed months
Delivering a campaign within one of the themes e.g. Scotch Lamb for St Andrews Night,
Seafood for Valentines, Pick Your Own berries in July etc.
Aligning existing activities to promote seasonality and availability
Focusing on Below-the-Line promotion to boost sales
Ultimately the messaging will be more successful the more the industry engages and promotes
collaboratively, so input into the process is welcomed and actively encouraged, as is the desire to
drive key monthly messages.
What does this achieve?
The intention is to gain as much industry support as possible to improve messages on seasonality
and on provenance. In this way, we can put across consumer messaging relating to the larder
available from Scotland, and when it is best to focus on putting the message across.