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Food Link Van

The Food Link Van provides an essential service, if a local food economy is to develop in a rural and peripheral location. It provides the link between the producer and the consumer by uplifting product from the producer and delivering it to the business which will sell it to the consumer. Skye and Lochalsh Food Link is particularly proud of the national award it won from the Soil Association as "Best New Food Initiative" in 2001.

Prior to the van starting, there was no reliable or cost-effective means of distributing a fresh product to the hotels, restaurants and shops that wanted to buy it. Businesses were constrained to what was immediately around them, both for buying and selling.

The area of Skye & Lochalsh in NW Scotland has huge potential for fresh local produce. It's not merely an image of greenness, cleanliness, freshness and high quality that is associated with that part of Scotland - the locally produced fish, shellfish, lamb, beer, cheese, vegetables, herbs and fruit fully bear it out.

The problem is itcan be very difficult actually to buy some of the excellent produce there. Two local supermarkets get their supplies, not necessarily fresh produce, from central depots on the mainland, a local wholesaler gets it from a market in Glasgow (210 miles). Consumers in turn depend on that wholesaler or other delivery services operated from Inverness (130 miles) and Fort William (120 miles).

The obvious solution to this unsatisfactory situation was a local distribution system - which could never get off the ground, or so everybody thought, because of economics of scale. The large area of 2,700 sq km with a population of only 12,000 results in a very low population density of 4.4 (UK average 242.2) seemed to rule out a viable local service.

How it started The original van scheme began operating in April 2000 as a result of one of the Food Futures' workshops, and the first van and driver was volunteered by one of Food Link's members (ever known affectionately as Ian 'the van' Morrison). The pilot initiative proved successful enough that the group sought financial assistance for the project and used the funding to buy a bigger van and employ a driver. In its first year, the van moved £6,800 of produce.

In 2003, the Food Link Company was established as a non-profit making company to manage the van and try to secure its future. The van has approximately 60 business customers, and picks up and delivers produce twice a week in summer, and once a week in winter. The van continues in trying to move towards self-sustaining model, and aims to at leastbreak even, with any generated profitploughed back into the project.

What is has achieved From March to June 2003 goods to the value of £14,873 were delivered compared with £6,800 for the same period in 2002 - a 137% increase. Now it moves over £80,000 per annum, a significant increase in the amount of food staying in the local economy. The van is trying to move towards being self-sustaining, and aims to at leastbreak even, with any generated profitploughed back into the project.The van charges suppliers 10% of the value of the product they put on the van.

Local produce worth more than £20,000 was shifted in the first one and a half years of its existence. This was produce that had no marketplace before the advent of the food link van. Food could be delivered to nearby businesses but, for example, it wasn’t possible to deliver cheese from Achmore in Lochalsh to The Three Chimneys in northwest Skye.

Skye and Lochalsh's potential for local produce is largely untapped - what is produced is still miniscule compared to what is imported into this area. This is being addressed by the food link group and others who aim to encourage local food production, marketing and health education.

All this is highly dependent on a reliable transport system - after all, nobody will increase food production unless he or she is confident that the goods can be delivered to the customer. Setting up a farmer's market or a box scheme only works if a delivery system is already in place.Education with regard to healthy eating only has an effect if some healthy produce is actually available.

Chefs were initially reluctant to cut down on established chains of supplies from outside this area, because they were sceptical of whether a new initiative would last, and whether or not it would provide a reliable service. This is no longer the case. The scheme has changed people's perceptions of the potential of the local community and has increased confidence in their own strength.

There is often a general feeling that changes are introduced from elsewhere; that changing conditions means waiting for solutions to be found by somebody else. In this case, however, it is local people who did something and it is their scheme that has begun to change their local community for the better.

With a grant towards establishing a sustainable transportation system the Group has made significant progress towards self-sufficiency.It is well placed to make a real difference to the local community.

In 2005, the Group obtained funding for a larger van to allow continued growth and ensure that more local produce is consumed on the island.The increase in demand also enables many producers to expand to supply a market that is now within their geographical reach.

In 2007, we became a community interest company to merge the functions of the trading company (the Van), and our social remit (Food Link). The Group is currently reviewing procedures and working towards a long-term strategy for the sustainability of the van, thanks to funding awarded by SFQC in spring 2008.