Setting up a local food business:- Fort William - 24th & 25th November 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.

Kilmallie Community Centre

Tuesday 24th November
9.30 to 5pm day 1 with an evening session 7pm to 9pm

Wednesday 25th November
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 Darachbeg Croft - a small croft co-run by two families, producing Dexter beef, eggs, vegetables, heritage potatoes and apples, soft fruit, and rye. Additionally, Marian Austin from Craigdhu Croft will join you at the hall to talk about the challenges of producing food for local sale and some of the ways she and Andy have overcome these.  Both Darachbeg and Craigdhu crofts are producers for Food Lochaber - a local food hub. 

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.

Darachbeg Croft, Muirshearlich

Abi, Adam, Henry and Kathie have a fold of Dexter Cattle, and a small flock of hens and ducks. They have an orchard of heritage apple trees and soft fruit, and grow a variety of vegetables including landrace and new age kales and croft heritage potatoes. They’re also experimenting and developing a winter cereal Rye Lochaber Landrace. All production is on low input organic principles.

Craigdhu Croft, Banavie

Marian and Andy grow vegetables, soft fruit, orchard fruit and potatoes in their field, garden and polytunnel. Everything is grown on organic principles with nutrients being provided by seaweed, manure and compost. They also make jam, cakes, ice-creams and cordials from their produce and from what can be foraged on the croft. They have free range pigs and bees and produce limited firewood supplies from the mature oak and birch wood around the croft. 

Food Lochaber

A collective of producers from Lochaber in the West Highlands of Scotland, united by their commitment to producing local food using organic principles and traditional crofting methods.

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.

Food Lochaber - how to set up a food hub - 16th September 2026, 7.30pm to 9.00pm

An introduction to selling meat boxes - 30th September 2026, 7.30pm to 9.00pm

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.

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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.