Sainsbury’s buyers met with more than 400 suppliers at the Royal Highland Show this year, a record for the supermarket’s presence there over the last 10 years.
Sainsbury’s agriculture, buying and technical team spent four days meeting some of its growers to discuss challenges or opportunities they may be facing.
The supermarket’s regional buying team also held meetings with potential new suppliers at the show.
Sainsbury’s agriculture manager Natalie Smith said: “It was a record year for visitors at the show this year so our stand was always packed. Many people were visiting our stand to see the tasting demonstrations and sample local produce and younger visitors loved the interactive fun field to fork demo.
“But overall this was a record year for the number of suppliers we were able to meet so we are really pleased with the results. Sainsbury’s are committed to local sourcing, so the agricultural shows across the country are a great way to make contacts. As a result, we are looking into the potential for new ranges of cheeses, oat products and jams. .
Large-scale potato business QV Foods, which supplies to Asda among others, were also at the show which marked the one year anniversary of the acquisition of Taypack Potatoes.
QV Foods and Fresh Approach sales and marketing director Simon Martin said: “This has been our first venture up to the Royal Highland Show amd we didn’t know quite what to expect but have been very pleasantly surprised with the success of the show, which has been a fantastic reward for all the effort put in by the QV Scotland team.”
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