Former SRFDA judge Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne will step down from her role as chair of Scotland Food & Drink when her tenure ends in October this year. She has been in post since 2021.
During her tenure, Scotland Food & Drink significantly upgraded the workings of its business and executive team, and this year’s Showcasing Scotland event saw a potential £77m in sales of new business generated between Scottish producers and the global buyers who attended. Bruce-Gardyne also hailed the April launch of national food and drink brand ‘Naturally Scottish’ as an important development.
A physiology graduate, Bruce-Gardyne has however spent her entire career working with food. After training at Leiths School of Food and Wine and the Michelin-starred Bibendum Restaurant, she ran a successful catering company before returning to Leiths to teach. There, she co-authored the award winning Leiths Techniques Bible, focusing on the functionality of mainstream ingredients and cooking techniques.
When her sons were diagnosed with a severe gluten intolerance, she spent around two years developing a gluten-free bread recipe to counter a lack of commercially available products. This then led to her founding ‘free from’ bakery brand Genius Foods in 2008 and co-founding the Gluten Free Industry Association in 2016.
She was also a staunch supporter of the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards and a member of the inaugural judging panel.
Thanking the Board, the team and every member in the Partnership for their dedication and collaboration, Bruce-Gardyne said: “I would also like to recognise the passion, grit and commitment of every member of our food and drink sector, to ensure consumers across our nation, the UK and globally are reliably provided with high quality produce, every day of the year. This is no mean feat under the challenging environmental, economic and geopolitical circumstances our sector is navigating, and I salute you for your outstanding work.
“Food and drink is my passion and I look forward to continuing my work alongside you, for many years to come.”
Iain Baxter, CEO of Scotland Food and Drink, commented: “Lucinda is a greatly valued ambassador for our industry, bringing passion and commitment to supporting the sector and helping create opportunities for growth.
“Myself, the Board, the Partnership and the team at Scotland Food & Drink has enjoyed working with her and she’ll be greatly missed. We wish her all the best for the future.”
