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Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

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In A healthy life

Mapping the major Scottish suppliers to the food retail sector

This project started in January 2024 and ended in April 2024

Supporting manufacturers and producers to identify practical changes they could make to their products that positively impact Scotland’s health.

We partnered with Food and Drink Federation Scotland to map major Scottish food producers supplying retailers. By analysing their products and sales, we wanted to identify suitable items for reformulation and support manufacturers in making practical changes that enhance public health. Our research found that reformulation has significant potential to reduce obesity and diet-related health issues in Scotland. Modest changes in recipes, portion sizes, and ingredient substitutions could achieve meaningful health outcomes without alienating consumers or negatively impacting businesses.

In Scotland, three-quarters of all the money we spend on food and drink, amounting to £10.4 billion in 2021, is spent within the retail sector on produce to eat at home, with the vast majority of it going to the major supermarkets.

Scotland also has a rich and proud cultural heritage associated with food and drink produce. And, representing nearly a third of all manufacturing turnover, food and drink is Scotland’s biggest manufacturing sector with 1,250 businesses involved.

Nesta’s healthy life mission aims to halve the level of obesity so more people can live a healthy life for longer. To achieve this, we need to find ways to increase the accessibility, availability and affordability of healthy food.

This is why we are mapping the main Scottish manufacturers who supply the major retailers in Scotland and quantify their sales to identify avenues to increasing the healthiness of food produced and sold.

Why did we do this?

In Scotland, 67% of adults live with excess weight – the highest figure of any UK nation and one that has grown dramatically over the last 30 years. Obesity is now the leading cause of death in Scotland and is linked to 23% of all deaths.

As the major supermarkets are the main point of purchase for food prepared and consumed at home, the contribution of the retail sector and the manufacturers that supply them to our obesity crisis is significant.

There is currently a lack of comprehensive data on the Scottish food system around Scottish manufacturing and its part in the retail supply chain.

What did we do?

We are working in partnership with the Food and Drink Federation Scotland, the industry body for food and drink manufacturers in Scotland, and have commissioned external researchers to support this work.

Together we will identify the main Scottish food producers and manufacturers who supply the major retailers, and gather data on their products and sales. We will then cross reference these with the top ten food groups suitable for reformulation as identified by our reformulation report – items such as biscuits, cakes and savoury pastries – and identify products from the Scottish supply where reformulation would have a significant impact on the healthiness of food purchased at retail.

We hope that the data and analysis produced from this work will support manufacturers and producers in the food and drink sector to identify practical changes they could make to their products that could make significant contributions to the health of Scotland’s population.