AYE Love Real Food has been providing Scottish foodies with Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, pulled beef stovies and Cullen skink for the past four years. Set up by Mark Davidson and his wife Jacqueline, the company aims to use well sourced ingredients from local producers, such as Nethergate Larder in Dunlop and Corrie Mains near Mauchline. With a 2017 Bank of Scotland report revealing Scottish food and drink firms can expect a 24 per cent increase in turnover over the next five years, Aye Love Real Food has ambitious plans for growth.
Age: 41
Position: Director
WHAT'S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
AYE Love Real Food
WHERE IS IT BASED?
KILWINNING, North Ayrshire.
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
IN 2014 I was made redundant and my wife wanted to start a new career. There's lots of amazing produce in Ayrshire so it seemed like a good place to set up a food business. We discovered we were very good at making Scotch eggs as we source the best ingredients in Scotland. We started selling at farmers' markets.
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Before this I managed start-ups for entrepreneurs so I have lots of experience in how to start a business. My wife's background is in finance but she did food photography and a had blog on the side. Combined, we had the right amount of experience to set something up.
WHERE IS IT STOCKED?
FARMERS' markets are a great way to start for a food business. We won a bursary award in 2014 from the BBC Good Food Show which gave us a free stand at the SEC in Glasgow. The Great Taste Award gave us access to a highland food show and food shows in London.
Last March we got into wholesale retail because there was a huge demand for it. We are now stocked in farm shops, cheesemongers, delis and restaurants where chefs cook with our food.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WHAT sets us apart is provenance – we are incredibly honest about where everything comes from and we get everything direct from farms so there's no chasing down the middleman. A lot of food businesses don't do that. We aim to showcase the best we can find from the best people we can find.
Quality also makes us stand out from the competition – we don't produce cheap products and are prepared to spend a bit extra on ingredients.
Being a Scottish company as well is an advantage – we are hoping to sell in England soon and being of a local Scottish origin is a great selling point there as well as in Northern Ireland and Wales. People like to be loyal to their local market and the haggis we use is the best in the country.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
OUR typical customer is somebody who appreciates good food. People taste our Scotch eggs and say it is the best Scotch egg they have ever tasted. That's no coincidence – it's good because we want to showcase the best ingredients Scotland can offer. We don't produce a 50p Scotch egg you can buy in the supermarket – it's a desirable foodie product.
We also supply food to parties and weddings. The rise in popularity of the Great British Bake Off and chefs like Jamie Oliver have formed people's perception of what good food should be. We are responding to that passion for quality ingredients.
We have found the challenge to be making that commercially viable.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
THE best part of running a company is the excitement of it. You never know what's around the corner or what the next opportunity will be. A highlight was getting to feed Price Charles and getting to do the after party for Justin Bieber's show in Glasgow last year.
It's great when you get a reputation for what you do.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?
IN the future we hope to be a nationwide brand and possibly export locally as well. In the next few weeks we are moving to a bigger location. We would like to grow our staff to five or six times what we have now in the next 10 years.
I would also like the business to tap into wholesale. We have already put a five year plan in place and it is definitely ambitious but I think we can get achieve it.
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