News / Bid to market islands meat
A PROJECT that could lead to meat produced in the Scottish islands being marketed with its own distinctive branding has received Scottish Government support in the form of a £43,400 grant.
The Scottish Islands Abattoir Association (SIAA) now has 18 months to test the market and to establish whether a viable collective system of marketing island meat is possible.
Scalloway farmer Ronnie Eunson, who is the association’s chairman, said it was widely accepted that island meats were “quite distinctive” from mainland Scotland produce.
However, since farmers and crofters based on the Scottish islands were rarely able to produce large amounts consistently, a different approach than mainstream marketing was needed.
“The islands feature many areas that are well known to tourists and visitors to Scotland,” Eunson said.
“The produce of the islands is recognised as being special but it is often difficult for island producers to gain access to any mainland market for a variety of reasons.
“Our produce would be marketed under an umbrella brand offering a range of products that would be both of limited amounts and of a seasonal nature.”
Meats coming under the islands umbrella brand would range from venison and various kinds of native breed pigs through to blackface sheep and Shetland sheep, as well as native breeds of cattle including Highland cattle.
“The big obstacle is the lack of knowledge within the islands as to where a market might exist,” he said.
“What we are looking for is a market that can cope with seasonality and variation and which is much more focused on provenance.”
SIAA is comprised of slaughterhouses in Barra, Islay, Lewis, Mull, North Uist, Shetland and Orkney.
The grant allocation was announced by Scottish rural affairs secretary Fergus Ewing on Monday and it formed part of £3.5 million of funding to 13 food and drink producers across Scotland.
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