The best food, drink and hospitality businesses were celebrated at the inaugural Scotsman Scran Awards this month. 200 people were welcomed to Platform in Glasgow on Monday June 19.
The Scotsman Scran Awards, hosted by chef and broadcaster Julie Lin, were developed to celebrate the individuals, establishments and products that make the Scottish food and drink sector what it is.
From Michelin-Starred fine dining to coffee shops and celebrated chefs and spirits, the Scottish food, drink and hospitality scene is a melting pot of talent and innovation, and these awards celebrated the very best of this.
Speaking ahead of the awards, The Scotsman editor Neil Mcintosh said: “At the Scotsman, we believe that Scotland’s food, drink and hospitality industries represent something very important about the country.
“We love your products of course and we salute the enormous contributions the food and drink businesses make to the national economy.” Scotsman food and drink editor, and host of Scran podcast,
9. New product of the year: Mackie’s Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream
Mackie’s Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream is set to be the best ever performing new flavour. Introduced in 2022, the smooth, fresh and creamy strawberry flavour ice cream, with a swirl of Mackie’s farm-made strawberry compote, has been a huge hit across the UK. With sales in its first 12 months of over £385,000 (28/02/22 – 28/02/23), Strawberry Swirl performed around six times better than Mackie’s other two most recent product launches (White Chocolate & Raspberry, Rhubarb). All Mackie’s ice cream and chocolate is produced on the family farm in Aberdeenshire, where the Mackie family have been farming since 1911. | LISA FERGUSON
10. Fish and seafood product of the year: Amity Fish Company Panko Scampi
Amity’s Panko Scampi is an award-winning product developed through over 50 years’ experience in the Scottish fishing industry. Both trade clients and consumers can’t get enough of this product - so much so the company finds it hard to keep up with demand. In both 2021 and 2022 the Guild of Fine Food awarded this scampi a Great Taste Star signifying this product ‘simply delicious’. Established in 2006, Amity Fish Company is a Scottish Seafood Supplier sourcing and sending the finest quality of Scottish seafood direct to homes and businesses across mainland UK. The small, dedicated team pick, pack and ship our fish boxes to anywhere in mainland UK their base in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. | LISA FERGUSON
11. Best Spirit: Smugglers Gin
Smugglers Gin is a premium, small-batch, London Dry gin. It’s made in Edinburgh with naturally grown, local botanicals, with an emphasis on the citrus flavours of lemon verbena and lemon balm. The gin has a low environmental impact due to the hand-harvesting of its botanicals on site, and sustainable packaging. Soft on the palate, smooth and sippable, our priority is the quality of the liquid. Smugglers Gin won Gold and Best Scottish London Dry Gin at this year’s (2023) World Gin Awards, which the team are extremely proud of. Its citrus forward, botanical flavours make it a lovely premium cocktail ingredient. | LISA FERGUSON
12. Scottish food and drink influencer of the year: Coinneach MacLeod, the Hebridean Baker
Coinneach MacLeod, otherwise known as the Hebridean Baker said of his award for Scottish food and drink influencer of the year: “Thank you so much to the Scotsman for the nomination and for the award - it feels great to be acknowledged like this. I hope through my work I can put more people onto the Hebrides as a destination worth visiting. The quality of food in the island in the last few years especially has been incredible - from the food truck to the high-end restaurants.” Coinneach has motivated his 250,000 Tiktok followers and 110,000 Instagram followers worldwide to bake, forage, learn Gaelic, enjoy a dram or two of whisky and dream of visiting Scotland and over 26 million people worldwide have tuned in to see his adventures from his off-grid cabin with his partner Peter and wee West Highland Terrier Seòras, where Coinneach has created the Hebridean Hygge lifestyle that in Gaelic has been christened Blàths. | LISA FERGUSON