Scotland Excel have demonstrated a focus on sustainable food procurement and supply on behalf of local authorities. Their approach has evolved over time and will continue to do so, reflecting national policy, lessons learned and challenges that remain.
Food procurement touches on many key objectives – health and wellbeing, children’s learning, sustainable economic development, opportunities for local businesses, fair work practices and support for net zero and circular economy transition.
Scotland Excel’s development and evolution of sustainable and local food supply is partly driven by national policy but also due to proactive collaboration with local authorities, markets, suppliers and others.
Local authorities can share opportunities for the supply of food products, through call-offs from Scotland Excel frameworks and by encouraging local suppliers to be involved.
There remain challenges. This includes the ready availability of emissions data from suppliers for food products and how best to reduce emissions relating to food procurement. For example, through menu planning rather than a focus on transportation of food.
It is a clear aim to be able to identify the provenance (country/ region of origin for food), so that local authorities and other public bodies are clearly able to determine if the produce is Scottish and from their own region.
The cost of establishing, and staying up to date with, provenance of food may sometimes be significant. A balance between encouraging suppliers to allocate the provenance of food, where possible, and relevant costs is therefore important to avoid barriers to participation in public procurement by suppliers.
Addressing these challenges, and others that may exist, means a focus on not just the procurement of food, but early engagement with the market by key stakeholders. This may include focussing on menu planning to alert the market to forthcoming demand and to maximise the use of fresh, seasonal, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and PGI environmental impact produce.
