Stephens Bakery - Case Study
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has launched a new initiative encouraging
Scottish food and drink businesses to work collaboratively across their supply chains,
with the aim of helping them become more efficient, competitive and profitable.
Known as C2 (Cultivating Collaboration), the project - jointly funded through the
Scottish Rural Development Programme, by The Scottish Government, the European
Union and SAOS - promotes the overall business benefits of effective co-operation
between businesses working in all areas of the food and drink sector. The project is
delivered as a key strategic activity of Scotland Food & Drink.
The C2 project offers participants an alternative approach to doing business rather
than just trading with each other in a more traditional fashion. By working more
closely together with others in their supply chain, businesses can gain competitive
advantage built on a common commercial aim, by simply communicating more
effectively, sharing information with others or, in more advanced relationships,
engaging in full scale joint planning and investment decisions. Previous
research***shows supply chain collaboration is an effective and modern way of
enhancing business performance, with those involved becoming more proficient, cost
effective, responsive and ultimately profitable. C2 principles apply to all businesses
across the supply chain, from farm to fork.
To see an example of effective collaboration in practice, Mr Lochhead visited a Fife
branch of convenience retailer David Sands, which works in close partnership with
local firm Stephens Bakers to supply its products across all Sands' stores. Their
collaborative relationship has certainly provided a "win-win" for both parties - after
11 years, the relationship now accounts for almost 30 per cent of Stephens' sales and
eight per cent of David Sands' turnover.
Commenting on the benefits of C2, Mr Lochhead said: "Food and drink is one of
Scotland's key industries, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country
and contributing over £7.5 billion to the nation's economy.
"It's therefore hugely important we do everything possible to enhance and develop the
sector and initiatives such as C2, with its emphasis on efficient collaboration, is
certainly a prime example of how we can develop a world class collaborative supply
chain in Scotland that will contribute to the future growth of our food industry.
"We will shortly unveil the next stages of Scotland's first-ever National Food and
Drink Policy. It will aim to boost business, put even more Scottish food on
consumers' plates and deliver major health and environmental benefits. Innovative
projects such as C2 will play a significant role in securing the future success of this
hugely important industry.'' Alan Stevenson, SAOS supply chain development director said: "To gain the benefits
of working more closely together, you have to change the culture and behaviour
within your supply chain. It means building trust and reliability, which is a step by
step process and can take time. The expertise within the C2 Team and our partner
organisations, will help accelerate this process by encouraging people to look at the
way they do business, supporting them to achieve the real commercial gains through
closer working partnerships.
"Businesses working collaboratively across supply chains tend to be more market
focused and able to respond quicker to market changes and opportunities. They know
what is expected of each other, and the strengths that individuals bring to the chain.
C2 is all about encouraging that kind of joint working as a means of making
businesses stronger, resulting in long term, future success.''
Paul McLaughlin, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink added: Scotland Food &
Drink has set challenging targets to grow the industry from £7.5 billion to £10 billion
over the next decade. Moving more of the industry from being cost and performance
centric to being collaborative and mutually supportive will be challenging, as the
industry will need to nurture new levels of trust and transparency to make those step
changes that are needed, but we believe this approach will deliver substantial
improvements from raw material suppliers through to retailers.
The dedicated C2 project team will offer participating businesses well resourced,
practical and candid advice to help them generate fair and sustainable business
success through cooperation and collaboration. The advice will be available through
workshops, online, and specialist one to one support. Further information about the
project, forthcoming events and workshops, details of how to get involved, etc. can all
be found on the C2 website at www.ctwo.org.uk.
Cultivating Collaboration
SAOS Ltd
Rural Centre, West Mains
Ingliston, Newbridge
Edinburgh EH28 8NZ
T. 0141 956 7089
E. info@ctwo.org.uk
Stephen Brown
Development & Distribution Director
David Sands Ltd. |
