About us

Scotland’s experts on farmer co-ops and food industry collaboration, we work with food and farming businesses to make them more profitable, competitive, and sustainable - #workingtogether to shape the future, today.

What we do

All our work helps facilitate farmers and food and drink businesses to work together effectively. Over the years we've expanded and developed subsidiary businesses - getting the right people together and making innovative advancements - to help benefit food, farming and rural Scotland.

Events & Training

Developing staff capability is one of the most effective ways to improve a co-op’s performance. Check out our events and training programme - most of which are open to non co-op members too.

Membership

As a development organisation, owned by our members, we provide a range of specialist services not available elsewhere, to assist them in developing their people and their businesses. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.

What's New

See below for all the latest news, views and updates from us here at SAOS. Find all our latest videos on YouTube at: SAOS - working together in food and farming

Network and Partnership Building

Building networks and partnerships is at the core of what we do, as we believe that working together is the best way to tackle many of the major issues we face. We help facilitate the formation of co-ops, as well as more informal collaborative groups and networks, and can support these groups with the development of strategies and action plans, helping develop shared goals. Here are just some examples of the range of groups and networks we currently facilitate. 

Flowers Grown in Scotland Group

This group was initially brought together through the Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) and facilitated by SAOS. On completion of support through RISS, and with additional funding through the Collaborative Group Fund, we continued to work with the growers to create a communication plan and develop guidelines for their own brand marque and the Flowers Grown in Scotland website.

 

Scottish Apple Producers Group (SAP)

SAP first came together to discuss the future for the apple sector in Scotland in 2016. Its aim was to discuss the feasibility of rejuvenating commercial orchards to offer opportunities for good farm management, reducing Scotland’s carbon footprint and  providing new income for farmers.

In 2019 the group was successful in receiving support from the RISS and SAOS worked with the producers to gather research and insight and develop R&D opportunities for both growing and processing.

The group is exploring the best approaches to harness the wider sector’s knowledge whilst also reaching out to other experts in support of re-establishing Scottish apples as a key product in the Scottish food and drink offering. 

 

The Cultivating Collaboration Network (C2N)

The C2Network has been developed by SAOS to build on the power of co-ops to drive positive change in the primary agriculture sector through the building of broader, cross - sector, collaborative partnerships. Now in its second year, the network brings together co-op members, industry organisations, academic institutions, technical and data providers to help enable change at a national level.

Get in touch to find out more.

Dairy Growth Board

We support the Dairy Growth Board to develop new opportunities at home and abroad for both large scale and artisan processors.  This includes logistics and sharing knowledge to improve sustainable production.

Scottish Farm Venison

We work closely with Scottish Farm Venison in support of both wild and farm venison production.  This includes a significant contribution towards a refreshed sector strategy; research and development into the supply chain for wild venison and the logistics of getting the product to market; and developing new collaborative solutions and improvements in the delivery of quality assurance.

Key contacts

Patricia Rojas Bonzi

Patricia Rojas Bonzi

Patricia Rojas Bonzi

Project Manager

07467 082625 | Patricia.Rojas@saos.coop