Local Selects boxes boost Scottish food and drink

A GIFT box project launched during lockdown has unveiled plans to continue promoting Scottish food and drink.

Local Selects was set up by The Start-up Drinks Lab, a business in Port Glasgow that helps brands develop and bottle new products.

Much of its work focuses on bars, pubs and restaurants and so the company had to adapt when on-trade premises were forced to close in March.

It worked with 22 brands to create seven choices of Local Selects boxes, featuring more than 70 products in total.

Nearly 300 boxes have already been sold, prompting the project to continue.

Lynsay Campbell, brand ambassador for The Start-up Drinks Lab’s own Sparklingly Sober label, put together the Local Selects project.

She said: “The main part of my job was building relationships with bars, restaurants, and shops, to promote Sparklingly Sober.

“Since lockdown, my heart has gone out to those who have seen their businesses have to close their doors, and I myself felt quite helpless.

“In overseeing the Local Selects project not only have I been able to reach out to brands and give them another sales outlet, but I have also been able to see incredible feedback from our new customers – someone even wrote a poem.

“I consider myself extremely lucky to have been kept busy during this time, and to be able to have the opportunity to ease people’s time during lockdown in any way I could.”

Craig Strachan, co-founder of The Start-Up Drinks Lab, added: “In a similar way to many small businesses, we’ve suffered as a direct result of the closure of hospitality meaning demand for our brands as well as clients’ bottling has not been as strong.

“Thankfully we can be nimble and have adapted with the times, filling hand sanitiser in the bottling hall and supporting ours and our clients’ businesses through Local Selects.

“Lynsay and the team are doing an amazing job at keeping our clients thriving as well as offering our customers an exciting insight into new, tasty drinks.”

Read more stories about how Scotland’s businesses are overcoming the coronavirus lockdown on Scottish Field’s news pages.