With the growing interest in nature and the environment, SAC Consulting (part of SRUC) has collaborated with NatureScot to curate two free business focussed interactive online events for Foraging Fortnight 2023.
The first event Working with Nature - building a sustainable business around nature takes place on Tuesday, September 12, 2-3.30pm and looks at the opportunities around nature-related tourism and enterprise creation.
Creating a nature-centred enterprise is a real opportunity because nature as a focus for travel continues to increase in popularity and Scottish businesses are ideally placed to take advantage of this tourism trend. Today’s visitors are keen to escape the everyday and connect with nature – so why not consider creating an enterprise to satisfy this need. This might be an on-farm experience, a rural retreat, a guided walk, or a wild food foraging experience.
There are also opportunities for landowners to sustainably supply wildfoods as the pandemic increased consumer interest in local producers, the natural environment, wildfoods, and provenance. Consumers are looking to reconnect with the processes & products, and the people producing them – with the provenance of a place. There is a move towards localism and authentic experiences - to connect with the unique identity of a destination, its history, culture, local skills, and nature.
This interactive event will explore these opportunities, answer some of the questions around building a sustainable nature-centred enterprise and introduce you to some of those working in this space.
The second event Wild Food Themes - an insight into the world of wild and foraged foods takes place on Thursday, September 14, 2-3.30pm and explores innovation & opportunities around the use of wild or foraged ingredients.
Joy in food is a core driver of cuisine trends in 2023, the cost-of-living crisis has made consumers increasingly thrifty with their menus and the recent pandemic heightened consumers’ awareness and appreciation of our natural environment.
This webinar explores this space – looking at some of the key food trends, the opportunity to do something a little different and to build on Scottish provenance and set your business apart from others.
Whether you’re a food producer looking to invigorate your product offering or a food outlet looking to strengthen your experience offering through nature links and wild foods, then join this discussion to hear from those already innovating to bring new and exciting products to market.
To register for these events please follow the link on the Foraging Fortnight website: https://foragingfortnight.co.uk/events/online-business/
To get in touch with the Food & Enterprise team at SAC Consulting, please email foodanddrink@sruc.ac.uk