Setting up a local food business:- Inverness - 16th & 23rd January 2027

Setting up a local food business - For small producers

An opportunity to do this course on consecutive Saturdays rather than during the week!

You raise livestock, hens, or grow your own 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.

Based on years of experience, Jo et al will guide you through the practicalities, the potential pitfalls, the rules & regulations, how to make the figures add up, what support is available, selling and marketing, and more..!

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

Glachbeg Croft Centre

Day 1 Saturday 16th January 2027
9.00am to 6.00 pm

Day 2 Saturday 23rd January 2027 
9.00am to 6.00pm 

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 Knockfarrel Produce to see Jo's croft operation on the ground and hear from him about the challenges of setting up a local food business and how he has overcome them. Beth Rose from Birchwood Croft will join you in Strathpeffer to share her experiences of local food production.
We are also delighted that Richard Roberts from Valhalla Croft will be attending to demonstrate his new mobile butchery unit.

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.

Birchwood Croft

Beth and Tim Rose, and their two mini-crofters, have managed a multitude of activity on their croft.

Cattle, sheep, pigs, bees, and hens have all been a part of their croft over the years. Balancing nature and livestock has helped to make the croft what it is today. On croft sales have included beef, lamb, pork, fruit and veg, eggs, chutney, jam, handicrafts and sunflowers.

Valhalla Croft

The Roberts family have a 1.4 acre croft in Brora. They are building a farming co-operative to supply produce in the local area.

Other courses

You may also be interested in the following online courses that will run alongside and supplement our in-person programme:-

1. Food regulations and how to apply them

2. Food Lochaber - how to set up a food hub

3. An introduction to selling meat boxes

4. VAT and other numbers

5. What funding is available for local food production?

NB These online workshopswill go into more detail on particular topics than will be possible on the in-person training courses

£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.