Scotland’s Speciality Food & Drink Show took place last week (19 to 21 January) at Glasgow’s SEC, with organiser Springboard Events reporting an increase in visitor numbers from 2024.
Buyers representing hotels, restaurants, farm shops and other retail outlets were able to discover and sample a wide variety of food and drink products from the length and breadth of Scotland.
As well as a sourcing element, the show had a full programme of talks and panel discussions in its Talking Shop. These were well attended and gave insight into subjects including digital strategies, trends, tourism ideas, and how to become more sustainable.
The show’s Best Product Awards were judged on the opening day by industry experts Ben Dale from Cairn Lodge services, Karol Rzepkowski from Victor Hugo delis, Janey Paton from Auchentullich Farm Shop and April Pollock, buyer for Morrisons. The winners all displayed a degree of innovation, good packaging, excellent taste and an understanding of how to produce commercial products.
Show judge April Pollock said: “It was great to judge the Best Product Awards and see so many entries, which made it challenging to only pick three from each category. In general, the show was brimming with many fantastic products, and it is always refreshing to see new and innovative products being introduced to the market.”
Winner of the Drinks category Jennifer Macleod from North Uist Distillery added: “We saw many new buyers who came to the stand on the back of us being awarded gold. This has given us many leads to follow up and as a newbie to this show we will definitely be back.”
SFDS Best Products Award Winners 2025
Confectionery, Biscuits & Snacks
Gold – Chocolate Tree – Cacao Fruit chocolate
Silver – Kinnaird Kitchen – homemade Scottish tablet
Bronze – Kilted Fudge Company – vegan dairy-free Scottish tablet
Condiments & Preserves
Gold – Bee hype Honey – raw honey and honey spreads
Silver – Isle of Skye Salt – smoked salt
Bronze – Jam Bothy – Chilli Jam
Drinks
Gold – North Uist Distillery – gin
Silver – Foreva Farmers – tonic water
Bronze – Seilich – herbal tea
Chilled & Frozen
Gold – Wee Cook (Appetite for Angus) – party pie gift trio set
Silver – Brine & Smoke – oat smoked salmon
Bronze – Taste of Arran – cheese
