By Janice Hopper

Most of us can remember an occasion when we paid a big brand a high price for poor food – limp sandwiches, plastic cheese or bad coffee!

Airports, service stations, railways and impersonal hotels are examples that personally come to mind. When customers are a captive market, prices can rise as quality dips.

But as the public become increasingly interested in quality food, low food miles and traceability, some big brands wish to elevate their reputation, please their customers and encourage return business, are now making a much more tempting offering to their clientele.

Forward-looking brands see their large size and strong purchase power, not just as a tool to take advantage of economies of scale and negotiate low prices with suppliers, but as a chance to support small, local producers, showcase local foodstuff, and take pride in associating themselves with quality Scottish goods.

Caledonian Sleeper, which leaves multiple Scottish railway stations headed for Euston in London, has committed to providing ‘the true flavour of the nation’, with all of their meals and snacks created using fresh, sustainable ingredients sourced from Highland suppliers.

The sleeper joined forces with Dingwall company RSF Scotland, led by foodie friends Quintin and Michelle Stevens, and Ian and Sabine Richards. RSF Scotland provides a network of more than twenty suppliers, including Docharty Farm, Connage Highland Dairy, Cockburns of Dingwall, Caithness Summer Fruits, Cobbs of Loch Ness and Wester Ross Fisheries, whose products potentially grace the tables of its clients.

Ian Richards of RSF Scotland says: “We have worked closely with Caledonian Sleeper to ensure that guests travelling with the service are offered a menu which not only reflects the current season, but also the destination that they are travelling to.

“Guests travelling from London to Inverness for example can have a taste of Clunes lamb with our popular lamb casserole dish, or those travelling to Perth can sample macaroni cheese made with Perthshire cheddar. It gives guests a proper taste of Scotland before they even reach their destination.”

The choices that large, powerful brands make have an impact on the local community that’s not to be underestimated. A valuable contract can translate into actual jobs, transforming lives, companies and communities. RSF has been able to recruit more than 12 additional employees from the local area and increase its equipment in a large part thanks to its growing relationship with Caledonian Sleeper.

One producer who has directly benefited is Jeni Hardie from Bad Girl Bakery who currently provides the Sleeper with 60,000 breakfast muffins per year.

The partnership has allowed Bad Girl Bakery to employ two additional members of staff. In addition the bakery has extended its premises by moving into the shop next door so its size has effectively doubled.

Jeni adds: “Working with such an iconic company as Caledonian Sleeper is excellent for not only orders and new business but will also help to raise our profile as a Scottish supplier.”

A second example is Northlink Ferries which serves the Northern Isles with core transport links. They could very easily buy in high quality (or poor quality) food, at reasonable prices, from anywhere in the world. Instead 100% of the food and drink onboard comes from producers, suppliers or wholesalers with a head office within fifty miles of NorthLink’s operating ports. The company has been awarded VisitScotland’s ‘Taste Our Best’ Award across three passenger ferries for three years running.

Their menu includes Orkney Haggis Pakoras, Camembert with Island Chutney, locally caught fillet of Haddock in an Island beer batter, Orkney ice-cream, and the epic Viking Burger made from Orkney beef.

Whilst the producers benefit from the stability that supplying a big brand may bring, the large companies find it’s paying dividends for them too in terms of profit and reputation. Peter Hutchinson, customer service director at NorthLink Ferries, commented: “Our network of more than 30 food and drink suppliers has not only secured us award wins and industry recognition but also a menu of fresh and premium produce that we’re proud of.”

He adds that the choice of ingredients and dishes now available, “Has led to an increase of the meals and produce purchased on board whether that be in the bar and restaurant areas or the gift shop where we showcase a selection of items from the islands.”

The profit margins in any business have to work but it appears big brands are enjoying the kudos and the quality guaranteed by investing time and money sourcing local, fresh food.

Occasionally, businesses take a keen interest in agriculture and local producers because farming is simply in their blood. Son of a Harris crofter, Donald Macdonald is the founder, executive chairman and chief executive of the international Macdonald Hotel chain with more than 40 hotels across Europe as well as 10 resorts to his name.

His son Ruaridh is an agriculture and business studies/marketing graduate of Aberdeen University and now helps run the family business. Links with the land start at the top of the chain.

The group is clear that ‘whilst the business may have spread its wings geographically, the commitment to food provenance and prioritising Scottish producers remains unwavering at local, regional and national levels.’

The company doesn’t have a strict policy but works with different producers in different ways and ‘encourages the small, artisan producer to literally bring their food to the Macdonald table’.

In some cases, such as the award-winning Connage Highland Dairy, products will only travel a few miles along the coast to reach the tables at Macdonald Drumossie Hotel, near Inverness.

In others, such as Scotbeef or Arran Dairies, products will appear in all UK properties, from Southampton to Inverness, as the brand has confidence in the quality and provenance of the product.

Donald Macdonald commented: “It is very important for us in the hospitality industry to understand that we are effectively the ‘middle man’ between producer and consumer, and that this position brings with it great responsibility.

“Our hotels provide an important showcase, a theatre even, for the producer and we need to be mindful of this and the wonderful opportunity it presents to tell a story about food.”

The current storyline is one that casts quality Scottish produce in the lead role. Here’s to a happy ending.