A NEW Scottish city centre store is bringing together the country’s best independent food producers under one roof for the first time.
Foodies, which is providing retail space for more than 60 independent producers of high-quality, specialist, and artisan foods opened its doors in Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries today.
It is a venture from the Scottish Design Exchange (SDX), which features the work of hundreds of artists and designers at three stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as through its online store.
Traders at its Foodies space include producers of coffee and specialist teas, honey, jams and chutneys, relishes and pickles, sauces, marinades, and glazes. The store will also sell, biscuits, chocolate, oatcakes, soft drinks, herbs, spices, and seasonings.
The business is the brainchild of Lynzi Leroy, the chief executive of the not-for-profit SDX.
And the entrepreneur behind the venture revealed plans to open similar outlets across Scotland – if it proves to be a success.
Foodies will operate with the same business model as SDX, providing a high street presence for small independent food producers who will pay a fixed monthly fee to rent space in the shop and get to keep 100% of their sales.
Leroy said the launch of the new business is in response to "overwhelming demand from SDX traders and customers for a dedicated food store". She anticipates the new store will be popular with tourists as well as customers from Glasgow and further afield.
She said: “Scotland has some of the world’s finest food producers but, unless you are a big company with deep pockets, it can be hard to get your products in front of customers.
“Thousands of smaller, independent producers struggle to reach their target market, and the idea behind Foodies was born out of a desire to help them."
Foodies’ traders include Hoods Honey, an East Lothian-based company with more than 200 beehives and 13 million bees across Lothian and the Borders.
Beeswax from these hives is used to make the seal affixed to every piece of legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament since it was opened in 1999.
Stuart Hood, whose father launched the business in the 1950s, said its fortunes have been transformed since it started selling through SDX.
He said: “We are really excited about Foodies, which we anticipate will do for the Scottish artisan food industry what SDX has done for artists and craftspeople.
“SDX gives businesses like ours a level of exposure we could never hope to achieve on our own, because of the prohibitive costs associated with having a high street presence.
“As well as selling to home-based customers, we are also exposed to thousands of tourist customers every year, giving us an international profile.”Hood added: “Scotland has an amazing food industry, full of talented, local producers handling some of the world’s finest raw ingredients, and Foodies will help to showcase those skills and products in a way that’s never been done before.”
Other traders include Kirkintilloch-based Schoolyard, which manufactures a range of chilli-infused jellies, jams, sauces, and chocolate pretzels and Blackthorn Scottish Sea salt, located in Ayr, which produces organic sea salt flakes in a natural and sustainable way.
