The Scottish Government has been working with SFQC (Scottish Food Quality Certification) to develop a toolkit which helps caterers enhance origin labeling of food and drink on menus, enabling consumers to make more informed choices.
The Provenance on a Plate website designed and developed by tictoc takes the toolkit online and gives practical advice to people in the catering industries. It gives information on how to compile menus with the correct origin information, clarifies legal requirements and provides best practice guidelines. The toolkit also aims to increase the use of local food produce, create greater consumer awareness and improve links with local suppliers. Maybe Kate can start selling her courgettes to some local restaurants this year!
The toolkit is simple to use with separate sections for several main food types. As well as providing information on legal requirements and best practice for each food type, users can also view sample menus - real life examples showing how to present origin information - and download resources.
Hazel Gordon, Technical Manager at SFQC said: "It is fantastic to see the results of this project, part of a Scottish Government secondment, now available online. This means the information can reach a far wider audience, much more effectively than a paper version would have, and updating the content will be simple.
tictoc clearly understood our requirements from the outset. They came up with a very attractive, but clear and accessible site, within a very short timescale, and have an internal project management structure which made life as the client very simple. Their efforts in assisting us highlight the importance of, and potential benefits to be gained from providing clear origin information on menus, is much appreciated."