Fresh funding for Scottish food wholesalers and producers

Grants will be provided to businesses through the £15m Scottish Wholesale Food & Drink Resilience Fund​​ and the £2m Scottish Food & Drink Producers Fund​​.

Applications open today and close at 23:59 on Sunday 13 February.

The cash follows a raft of measures announced on 17 December to support Scottish businesses worst affected by COVID-19's Omicron variant.

Wales and England​

Wales's economy minister Vaughan Gething has announced that £120m would be available for retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses and their supply chains.

On 7 January, the UK Government announced £700m in grants would be available​​ via local councils for firms in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors hit by Omicron in England. Businesses including suppliers of the hospitality and leisure sectors can also apply for a share of a pot worth more than £100m to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund for local authorities in England.

“Producers and wholesalers play a key role in Scotland’s supply chain and are integral to the Scottish economy,"​ said Scotland's rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon. "We know how difficult the past year has been for those working in the food and drink sector due to the pandemic. These funds will provide a vital lifeline to these businesses, especially in light of the restrictions implemented due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.​

'Impacted by restrictions'​

“Food & drink wholesale businesses in particular have been impacted by restrictions over the last year and we have committed an additional £10m through the wholesalers fund to support them with their recovery. I would encourage all eligible businesses to get their applications in as soon as possible.”​

The Scottish Food and Drink Producers Fund offers support to primary and secondary food and drink producers who supply the hospitality sector, and who have encountered hardship as a consequence of heightened restrictions introduced by the Scottish Government between 8 December 2021 and 24 January 2022.

The Scottish Wholesale Food & Drink Resilience Fund will provide:

• £10m of support for food & drink wholesalers encountering hardship as a consequence of the public health restrictions imposed on hospitality and on-trade during the period from January 2021 to August 2021.
• £5 million provided to support those food & drink wholesalers affected by the emergence of the Omicron variant and related public health restrictions on hospitality and the on-trade that were introduced in December 2021 and continued in January 2022