Setting up a local food business:- Bonar Bridge, Tuesday 27th & Wednesday 28th October 2026

NB This course is badged for the Small Producers Practical Training Fund, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund and the Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund.

If you are eligible for any of these funds then your ticket cost will be covered. Additionally, with the Small Producers and Women in Agriculture funds, women and girls living on islands and in remote rural locations can claim additional costs for travel and accommodation to attend a course that isn't local to them.

To see if you may be eligible to apply for a grant to cover the cost of the course, click on the links above to find out more before you register for the course. Let us know if you are applying for the fund so that we can reserve a space for you while you wait for your application to be assessed.

Contact celia@crofting.org

Setting up a local food business - For small producers

You are a primary producer of livestock, hens, or vegetables and fruit. Now you are wondering if there is a way to sell your produce locally and develop your own local food business. Perhaps you have been selling a wee bit locally and are thinking of scaling up.

But where to start?

With Jo Hunt, of Knockfarrel Produce in Dingwall, and other inspiring small-scale food producers, our training programme will take you step-by-step through the process of setting up a local food business using your own produce.

Open to crofters, smallholders, farmers and other small-scale producers.

During this two-day programme, you will:-

1. Identify the best food products to make on your croft;
2. Find out what customers want and choose the best local markets;
3. Map out a short supply chain to make and sell your products;
4. Visit an established croft business to see how they do it;
5. Prepare a budget, using tools designed for crofting, helped by a crofter economist;
6. Learn how to set prices and choose the one that works;
7. Get feedback on your croft food business ideas from other crofters in a supportive group;
8. Leave prepared to get your new food business up and running for next season;
9. Know where to find funding, navigate the rules and get more business support;
10. Share the joy of making and selling great food on your croft.

Bonar Bridge Community Hall

Tuesday 27th October
9.30 to 5pm day 1 with an evening session 7pm to 9pm

Wednesday 28th October
9.00am to 4.30pm 

There will be a programme of class-based sessions with input from Jo about the key factors you need to consider to turn your business idea into a practical enterprise. You will visit The Hirsel in Ardgay to meet Donna and Donald Gillies on their small, organic farm and hear about the challenges of setting up a local food business and how they have overcome them. Additionally, Sally Crowe of The Croft, Keiss will be travelling down to join you in Bonar Bridge to share her experiences of local food production.

By the end of the course you should have a plan for your next steps and feel inspired to take them!

Knockfarrel Produce

Knockfarrel Produce is an organic croft near Dingwall. Through a box scheme, Jo sells seasonal veg and fruit, preserves, eggs, cordials and pestos, all produced on the croft, while offering a selection from other local producers.

The Hirsel

A small, mosaic farm run on organic principles. Donna and Donald use nature-friendly methods to produce primarily Hebridean mutton, pure live Hebridean lambs, and wool sold as carded batts through Highland Wool CIC (set up by Donna in 2022).

The Croft, Keiss

Sally Crowe and her family have a 65 acre regenerative croft in Keiss, Caithness, where they run 60 hill cheviot ewes and followers and 8 rare breed Irish moiled cattle, and are working towards the cattle and sheep being 100% pasture fed. Sally also has around 65 Lohman brown hens. 

They sell beef, lamb and mutton boxes, and have a weekly egg delivery.

Our series of online courses runs alongside the in-person programme and provides more detail on certain topics that we cannot cover in full over the two in-person days.

Collective routes to market - 14th October 2026, 7.30pm to 9.00pm

VAT and other scary numbers - 3rd November 2026, 7.30pm to 9.00pm

What funding is available for local food production? - 17th November 2026, 7.30pm to 9.00pm

£50 Members/£80 Non-Members.
Ticket price includes lunch on both days.

Some people have found that it is not possible to book tickets on Apple's Safari browser. Please try with a different browser or contact the office on hq@crofting.org or telephone 01599 530005 if you have any difficulties.

NB. If cost is a barrier to you attending this course, please contact us.  Please direct any enquiries to celia@crofting.org

Wondering why we ask you to pay for this workshop?

The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) is a registered charity and relies primarily on membership subscriptions for its income. We need to keep finding other ways to cover our costs.
The SCF (originally the Crofters' Union) has been championing crofters for 40 years and we want to continue to do so for the next 40!

Membership of the SCF gives you multiple benefits including:- a voice at national level, reduced price training, access to advice from a panel of expert crofters, a free 30 minute legal consultation, news and updates that affect crofting with The Crofter magazine twice a year and monthly e-newsletters.

Join Now! https://www.crofting.org/membership/

This workshop is part of our Crofting for the Future series and is 75% subsidised through the SRDP Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF), funded by Scottish Government.

With grateful thanks to the Pebble Trust for additional funding support for our Crofting for the Future project in 2026-2027.

The Pebble Trust has a vision for a more sustainable, fair, and low-carbon society, where constraints on fossil fuels lead to a more localised economy with stronger, more resilient communities.