Clean water and high quality standards have made Scottish fish and seafood popular among consumers and top chefs
Scottish politics has made news worldwide recently, but politics isn't the only thing interesting about Scotland to foreigners.
For those who are more interested in food and drink, Scotland has much more to offer, not the least in terms of fish and other seafood.
Scotland's ultraclean water is well-suited for aquaculture and seafood farming, and fueled by a demand in the Chinese market, seafood exports have grown over the past year, according to figures released by the Scottish government.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs export statistics for last year show that food exports alone grew by 3.5 percent on 2013, driven primarily by a surge in fish and other seafood, which was up 38 million pounds ($60 million).
"The increasing demand from China and the wider Asia region has certainly had a huge impact on overall exports. Food exports to China in 2014 were up a massive 82 percent to 46 million pounds, mostly due to a 92 percent increase in exports of fish and seafood," said Susan Beattie, head of food and drink at Scottish Development International.
"The export figures show some really positive growth in particular markets as we start to widen our export base beyond Europe and broaden the range of food products being exported," Beattie added.
SDI, the investment and trade promotion agency of the Scottish government and its economic development agencies, is investing in a team of global food and drink specialists to dovetail with the efforts of its existing staff in Scotland and in 29 offices around the world.
These specialists are based in SDI's top prospect export markets, and at the beginning of June, they were back in Scot-land for face-to-face meetings with ambitious Scottish companies looking to export to their markets.
"This type of on-the-ground connection is so important for companies looking to expand internationally, and is a great example of how we can help food and drink companies to prepare for export success," Beattie said.
Salmon－Scotland's No 1 food export－last year for the first time became the UK's biggest food export to China, an important emerging market, continuing its growth from virtually nothing in 2011 to almost 65 million pounds, with an extra 40 percent in volume last year, according to a report from the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation.
Loch Fyne Oysters Ltd is one of the Scottish companies keen to export salmon to the Chinese market.
"We strongly believe that there is a market in China for high-quality products and Scottish salmon offers the best quality and flavor that will be appreciated by those looking for a premium product," said Simon Briggs, sales director of the company.
The company says building direct contacts with the Chinese is the best way to win the business.
"We have hosted inbound visits to Loch Fyne from China and believe very much in working in partnership with our customers, inviting them to visit Loch Fyne, to understand our location, working practices and the passion we put into creating our product. Our partners are carefully selected with a view to enjoying a long-term working relationship," Briggs said.
Another Scottish seafood company that has a notable presence in China is Northbay Pelagic, also known as Fresh Catch, primarily selling mackerel.
Colin Anderson, director at Northbay, said the company has been developing business in China for the past 15 years, and opened its first Chinese office in Qingdao, Shandong province, in 2010. The company realized that if growth was to be sustained and new products introduced, it would require an office and staff to assist the company in achieving its key strategies.
"Having an office has made many positive differences in the way the company approaches the market and introduces products to China, and we believe that this can only be a major help when trying to develop business in what is a complex and demanding market," Anderson said.
He said that export sales in China are not always in a straightforward upward projection. Some products dip in terms of demand and then reemerge, so the company has to work extremely hard to maintain growth in the market.
"Demand is often inconsistent and competition is fierce, particularly from companies that think that trading in China is easy. They try to enter the market without being fully prepared, only disrupt key elements of everyone's trading because they are so poorly prepared for the issues," Anderson said.
Burgon Eyemouth Ltd, a Scottish crab supplier, is another company on track toward creating a large presence in China.
The company started looking into exporting to the country in 2010, and the movement was accelerated by the collapse in the European market and the affinity of the sales director, David Markham, for China.
"The Chinese market clearly loves crab and imports a variety from around the world. Our season happily coincides with the Chinese New Year market, which works well for us. The Chinese market is very important for our business, and we are looking to increasing our capacity to try to satisfy demand," said Markham.
Although the company sells only whole crab to China, its business is mainly crabmeat. "We are very keen to introduce our fantastic crabmeats to the domestic Chinese market and also the international hotels and restaurants in China," Markham added.
The Scottish government realizes that in order to export its produce, one of the best ways is to introduce its natural larder to chefs.
As part of a celebration for the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015, the Scottish government, the Federation of Chefs Scotland and the Scottish Seafood Collaborative group invited the Hong Kong Chefs Association and the winner of the Scottish recipe challenge to Scotland for a week of culinary sharing and industry insight.
Anita Cheng, international team manager at the Hong Kong Chefs Association and one of the delegation members, said: "Having done my research on different sites and farms that we were to visit, I found they turned out in some ways better."
