Scotland: National Rural NetworkVisit date: Thursday 24th March 2011
The most southerly populated Scottish island, Arran is nestled in the firth of Clyde between the Ayrshire coast and the Mull of Kintyre and is just an hour's ferry ride from mainland UK.
Taste of Arran is a sales, marketing and distribution company for 11 independent food and drink producers based on the island. These are:
Taste of Arran believes the ability of businesses to work together towards economic growth is essential in fragile rural areas where the environment, local communities, agriculture and business are inextricably linked.
Taste of Arran brings local producers together in a collaborative business model to build a strong brand for the island, not only as a producer and distributor of high quality food and drink, but as a leading food tourism destination, in order to contribute to the local rural economy and support the island's sustainable development.
Taste of Arran provides a single point of contact for sales, marketing and distribution, allowing retailers and consumers to access a range of products with just one phone call or the click of a mouse on their website (www.taste-of-arran.co.uk)
This pooling of resources has also increased purchasing power, driving down costs so that products can be offered at competitive prices.
Taste of Arran produce can now be found in restaurants and retailers around the country, but the brand is particularly strong on the island itself. Seasonal produce is found on local restaurant menus, gifts can be picked up in the many shops throughout the island, and tours of Taste of Arran producers are available.
More recently Taste of Arran has been instrumental in establishing VisitArran, a destination management organisation seeking to develop Arran as the top UK island destination, and which builds on the strong links already made with tourism operators and other local businesses.
Since their inception in 2001, Taste of Arran has been an extremely successful collaborative business. Unique in structure and delivery, they have been used as a model by many other regions and groups throughout Scotland, the UK and Europe.
Direct sales through the company have now reached almost £750k, but the participating companies' total sales account for some £10 - 12 million.
Taste of Arran has also attracted an array of awards, including the Scottish Food and Drink Direct Marketing Excellence Award, Highlands and Islands Food Tourism Award and Catering in Scotland Food Tourism Award. In addition to these the individual producers have attracted their own product specific awards.
Taste of Arran consistently faces the challenge of how to build a sustainable rural enterprise with a commercial edge while having a low environmental impact and not negatively affecting values or brands. Another key challenge is to continually invest in Taste of Arran's people and business, and deliver growth.
Taste of Arran regularly gets involved with all aspects of the community on and off the island. They engage with the local high school as Enterprise Liaison and are regularly asked to present at social and business community events. Managing Director Alasdair Dobson is a director of VisitArran and a member of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Board, Ayrshire Business Forum and the HIE Area Economic Panel.
Taste of Arran have a very good relationship with national and local government and are a Highlands and Islands Account Managed business. All have helped with some business support and finance and are involved with potential funding of a new "food hub" business development. However, Taste of Arran has always financed their own development through commercial revenues.
The individual businesses involved with Taste of Arran will have neither the production capacity nor the infrastructure to cope with anticipated future growth. The need has been identified for a high quality joint production, storage, dispatch and administration centre. This will be an iconic facility powered by renewable energy, utilising transparent production methods and incorporating an innovative interpretation centre, which will provide a platform for the company to achieve sales of around £3 million in the next three years.
In addition to this, Taste of Arran are especially keen to help other food and drink producers in rural Scotland and see a unique opportunity to upscale the Taste of Arran business model, for example creating a "Scottish Island" brand, as well as identifying other collective opportunities for the wider Scottish food and drink community.
You can find out more about what Taste of Arran are doing by visiting their website
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