Food & Drink Business Bytes

In this episode, join Lesley and Brenna as they take us on a special learning journey to the Isle of Mull, where they explore innovative community composting projects led by the Mull and Iona Community Trust (MICT). Through the lens of the TechHub In-vessel Composting Common Interest Group (CIG), they dive into how MICT’s composting initiatives, like Biolan, Ridan, Hotbin, and Big Hanna, have helped reduce food waste, lower carbon emissions, and foster environmental sustainability on the island.

Lesley and Brenna are joined by MICT’s Hazel Cowe and Ewan Baxter, who share their knowledge and experiences from the Mull Environmental Sensitive Solutions (MESS) project. Over the last six years, MESS has made significant strides in composting, supporting local gardeners and businesses while reducing CO2 emissions.

Throughout the episode, we’ll also hear from attendees of the learning exchange, including insights on how communities can start their own composting initiatives and make meaningful environmental impacts.

Tune in for key takeaways on composting systems, practical advice for starting your own community composting project, and valuable resources for sustainable practices.

Featured Guests:

• Hazel Cowe – MICT Project Manager
• Ewan Baxter – MICT Composting Expert

Resources Mentioned:

• HighlandCompost.scot - Community Decision Tree
• In-vessel composting Facebook Group: Highland In-Vessel Composting Network
• MICT Website: Mull and Iona Community Trust | Working to improve the social, economic and environmental strengths of our islands
• Lochaber Environmental Group: Lochaber Environmental Group - Supporting sustainable living in Lochaber.
• Highland Good Food Partnership: Highland Good Food Partnership
• Learning Journey: Community Learning Exchange - Scottish Community Alliance

Produced by:

Kerry Hammond

Related Links:

• Mull and Iona Community Trust | Working to improve the social, economic and environmental strengths of our islands
• Food and drink TechHUB | HIE
• Community Learning Exchange - Scottish Community Alliance

Find More Episodes:

Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

A conversation with Anne-Laure Farrar, insight manager at The Knowledge Bank and Rick Allison, Head of Category Insights at Joseph Robertson. We find out about why Market Insights and data are so crucial for small and scaling Food & Drink Businesses, and where you can get started for free with The Knowledge Bank.

Rick talks about how Joseph Robertson have used Market Insights to make sure they are putting the right products in the right places based on customer data, and how they develop their range. Packed full of incredibly useful information for any Food & Drink entrepreneur, this episode summarises some key point expanded upon in a webinar that the Food & Drink Tech Hub Business Support Service presented, find out more through the links in the show notes.

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Produced, ,and hosted by Kerry Hammond, edited by Robbie Campbell.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and

Islands Enterprise | HIE

Watch the Market Insights Webinar on-demand: Market Insights Webinar

Find out more about The Knowledge Bank here: The Knowledge Bank Scotland - Turning insight into action

Find out more about Joseph Robertson here: Home page | Joseph Robertson

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

A conversation with Sam Faircliff, Founder of Cairngorm Brewery, and Keith Paterson, Brand Founder of Shore Seaweed. We find out about the recent learning journey they went on through support from Highlands & Islands Enterprise, to go and visit the IFE (International Food & Drink Event) at ExCel in London. We discuss their motivation for going, what they wanted to learn, how they found the learning journey, their key actions, and also their insights into trends and must-know info from the event.

Also in this episode, some exciting information about a new Common Interest Group to help

businesses in the Highlands to manage their Food Waste.  

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Produced, edited, and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and

Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about Cairngorm Brewery here: Collections – Cairngorm Brewery Co. Ltd

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn: Samantha Faircliff| LinkedIn

Find out more about Shore Seaweed here: SHORE Seaweed: Snacks and food made from Scottish seaweed

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn: Keith Paterson | LinkedIn

Find out how to reduce your business food waste through the In-Vessel compost Common Interest Group here:  New food waste reduction group for Highland firms | HIE

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

A conversation with Alex MacDonald, co-founder of Northpoint Distillery, located in Forss, outside Thurso. In this conversation we hear about how Alex, a former Tech Start-up mogul, paired with Struan, his PwC consultant, to pursue their dream, a Distillery in the North-West of Scotland, producing sustainable and award-winning spirits, including their long awaited Dalclaggie Scotch Whisky. In this conversation we learn more about how Alex and the team prepared for investment and sought funding, we learn about their ethos of ‘People, Place, Spirit’ and hear about some of the many opportunities that the team have pursued through Highland’s & Islands Enterprise, including the Food & Drink Tech Hub Business Support Service, the Young Business Capital Investment Grant, Impact 30 and the Graduate Programme.

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Produced, edited, and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about Northpoint Distillery & subscribe to their mailing list here: HOME | NORTH POINT DISTILLERY

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: Alex MacDonald | LinkedIn

Watch the Investment & Crowdfunding Webinar here: TechHUB

Investment and Crowdfunding to grow your business webinar on Vimeo

Apply for support to form a Common Interest Group here:  Common Interest Group Application Form Survey (surveymonkey.com)

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

A conversation with Martin Sherring, one of the trustees of The Highland Good Food Partnership and a co-creator of The Black Isle Feast, a common interest group supported by Food & Drink Tech Hub. We discuss the partnership’s aims, the success of the common interest group, some of the challenges that food producers face in the Highlands, and wrap up with a quick look at food waste solutions for the Highlands, and how The Highland Good Food Partnership will be involved with Scotland’s Good Food Act.

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from Food & Drink Tech Hub.  The support is part of the Northern Innovation Hub project, funded by the City-Region Deal.

Food & Drink Business Bytes brings you everything you need to know about upcoming events, resources, and any funding and support available to food & drink businesses in the Highlands. We bring you all this, with a splash of fun and conversation, featuring business stories from the area.

Produced, edited, and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub:

NorthernInnovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about Highland Good Food Partnership & subscribe to their mailing list here: Highland Good Food Partnership

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn: (1) MartinSherring | LinkedIn

Find out about domestic food waste options through Highland Compost here: CommunityDecision Tree (highlandcompost.scot)

Food Service businesses contact for food waste: [email protected]

Read more about The Good Food Nation Policy: Good FoodNation policy - Food and drink - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: BusinessBytes podcasts | HIE

Catch up on our recorded webinars: TechHUBworkshops | HIE

A conversation with Allene Bruce, Director of New Nutrition Business, and Fee Stott, Product Development Manager at Aqua Scot about Food trends and Product Development. 

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Food & Drink Business Bytes brings you everything you need to know about upcoming events, resources, and any funding and support available to food & drink businesses in the Highlands. We bring you all this, with a splash of fun and conversation, featuring business stories from the area.

Produced, edited and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Watch the Food Trends & Product Development workshop on demand: TechHUB Food Trends and NPD Workshop on Vimeo

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about New Nutrition Business: New Nutrition Business | 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2022 (new-nutrition.com)

Find out more about Aquascot here: Home | Aquascot

Connect with Allene on LinkedIn: Allene Bruce | LinkedIn

Connect with Fee on LinkedIn: Fiona (Hurn) Stott | LinkedIn

Catch up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

Catch up on our recorded webinars: TechHUB workshops | HIE

A conversation with Ciara Bow, Founder of Gledfield Distillery

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Food & Drink Business Bytes brings you everything you need to know about upcoming events, resources, and any funding and support available to food & drink businesses in the Highlands*. We bring you all this, with a splash of fun and conversation, featuring business stories from the area.

Produced, edited and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about Gledfield Distillery : Facebook & Gledfield Distillery(@gledfielddistillery) | Instagram

Find out about Thrive Business School : thrive-online-entrepreneur-programme-leaflet.pdf (sruc.ac.uk)

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

Catch up on our recorded webinars: TechHUB workshops | HIE

Apply for 121 Expert Advice email [email protected]

Apply to create Common Interest Groups: Common Interest Group Application Form Survey (surveymonkey.co.uk)

A conversation with Hannah Taylor from Gut Feelings Kombucha

Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink TechHUB support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Business Bytes brings you everything you need to know about upcoming events, resources, and any funding and support available to food & drink businesses in the Highlands*. We bring you all this, with a splash of fun and conversation, featuring business stories from the area.

Produced, edited and presented by Kerry Hammond.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Find out more about Gut Feelings Kombucha: https://gut-feelings.uk/

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business

Bytes podcasts | HIE

Catch up on our recorded webinars: TechHUB

workshops | HIE

Follow Gut Feelings Kombucha on Facebook : Facebook  gutfeelingskombucha

Follow Gut Feelings Kombucha on Instagram: Instagram - gut_feelings_kombucha

Apply for Bespoke 121 Expert Help: https://www.hie.co.uk/support/browse-all-support-services/techhub/

*(some support packages are only available to businesses within the Highland Council areas, our online resources are available to anyone)

Thanks for joining me, Kerry Hammond for the third episode of Food & Drink Business Bytes, a podcast that brings Food and Drink Businesses in the Highland Council area all of the latest events, resources, funding opportunities and support available through Highland & Islands Enterprises Food & Drink Business Support Service, part of the Northern Innovation Hub, Food & Drink Tech Hub project.

On today’s episode I speak to Claire Munro the Senior Project Manager for the Northern Innovation Hub and project manager for the Food & Drink TechHUB facility. Claire tells us about the Food & Drink Tech Hub, a new physical facility being designed to sit in Fyrish House in Alness.

I'm also joined by the architect behind the ambitious and innovative design of the Food & Drink Tech Hub, Stuart Graham, an architect with over 20 years’ experience, now an Associate with Colin Armstrong Architects, one of the largest and longest established practices in the region. He is currently leading the team on the design of the Food& Drink Tech Hub in Alness.

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink Tech Hub support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Produced, edited and hosted by Kerry Hammond.

Northern Innovation Hub Funding

The TechHUB project forms part of the Northern Innovation Hub (NIH), which is funded with £11m from UK Government, £1.2m ERDF and £2m from Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Northern Innovation Hub is part of the Inverness and Highland City Region deal, a joint initiative supported by up to £315m investment from the UK and Scottish governments, The Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and University of the Highlands and Islands, aimed at stimulating sustainable regional economic growth.

Find out more about the Northern Innovation Hub: Northern Innovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Catch Up on Podcast episodes you’ve missed: Business Bytes podcasts | HIE

Catch up on our recorded webinars: TechHUB workshops | HIE

Connect with Claire Munro: Claire Munro | LinkedIn

Learn more about Colin Armstrong Architects: Colin Armstrong Architects Inverness

Connect with Stuart Graham: Stuart Graham | LinkedIn

Food & Drink Business Bytes is a Podcast brought to you by Highlands & Islands Enterprise as part of the business support service from the Food & Drink Tech Hub. The Food & Drink Tech Hub support is acknowledged as a Northern Innovation Hub project and also funded by the City-Region Deal.

Food & Drink Business Bytes brings you everything you need to know about upcoming events, resources, and any funding and support available to food & drink businesses in the Highlands*. We bring you all this, with a splash of fun and conversation, featuring business stories from the area. Produced and presented by Kerry Hammond from SAC Consulting.

In Episode 2, I'm bringing you some information on the Impact 30 programme for entrepreneurs in the Highlands, and get the chance to sit down with Molly McGhee the entrepreneurial mind behind Molly's Mixes. We discuss her experience with Impact 30, and also some of the support she has received through the Food & Drink Business Support Service.

*(some support packages are only available to businesses within the Highland Council areas, our online resources are available to anyone)

Catch up on our recorded webinars: Food and drink TechHUB | HIE

Impact 30 link :  Businessdevelopment support | HIE

Impact 30 Contact: [email protected]

NorthernInnovation Hub | Highlands and Islands Enterprise | HIE

Pick N Mix | Molly'sMixes (mollysmixes.com)

Buy your Pick N Mix here: Shop | Molly's Mixes (mollysmixes.com)

Join Molly’s Facebook community here: Molly's Mixes | Cromarty |Facebook

Follow Molly’s Instagram for mouth-watering photos: Molly's Mixes(@mollysmixes99)• Instagram photos and videos