With an average of 21% of all tourist expenditure in Scotland spent on food and drink, this is an important sector for Scottish tourism.

Seasonal foods ranging from vegetables and berries to Scotland’s renowned fish and seafood are highlighted by national tourism organisation VisitScotland in a new website www.scottishfoodinseason.com.

The online seasonal produce tool has a clear ‘food to plate’ message with the site highlighting Scotland’s best ingredients, linking through to information on suppliers and producers. The ‘Where can I buy?’ section encourages people to buy local and eat local.

To give consumers inspiration about the fantastic ingredients they can buy in Scotland the site also includes recipes from EatScotland businesses. Visitors to the site can also upload their own favourite recipes.

To encourage people to visit Scotland, the site includes information on food festivals and events. Businesses and suppliers can also upload information about events to the site.

The seasonal food website builds on VisitScotland’s Farmers’ Market Quality Assurance scheme which was launched last year.

Jim Mullen, Managing Director of Fife-based Larder Bytes Ltd, an innovative internet food chain supply company, said: “We have been at the forefront of bringing local produce fresh to consumers for the past three years via our decentralised distribution network. The benefits are manifest; fresh, local produce, reduced food and packaging waste, and healthier eating. These have a huge appeal to visitors to Scotland and we’re very pleased to welcome and be part of this VisitScotland initiative.”

Tourism Minister Jim Mather said: “Scotland is famous for its high quality produce: from fresh seafood, to beef, to venison, to dairy produce and fruit & vegetables. Increasingly, the very best restaurants look first to Scotland in their search for the very finest ingredients. When the best chefs across the world are doing that, you know we have something special. We now want to build on that and see our fantastic seasonal ingredients taken to a new market - the tourist.

“Food is an important part of any visit to a country. If we can give visitors a taste for our wonderful home grown produce, we can give them a taste for Scotland, bringing them back time and time again. This will bring great benefits for the Scottish economy, helping to sustain a thriving tourism industry, whilst giving a boost to our local farmers and small businesses across the country.”

Sandy Dear from VisitScotland’s Sustainable Tourism Unit said: “VisitScotland, and Scotland’s tourism businesses, are working hard to make Scotland Europe’s most sustainable tourism destination.

“Growing revenues from tourism is crucial for Scotland, but this must be done in a sustainable way. Food and drink have a key role to play in this. Local, seasonal produce grown in ways that look after the environment is not only good for sustainability, it tastes great too.”

Further information: www.scottishfoodinseason.com

Source: www.visitscotland.org