As food prices keep rising, Scotland’s farmers are earning less than ever — the result of a lopsided system that leaves shoppers paying more while rural communities struggle. A new initiative suggests how a fairer, more transparent food chain could bring costs down for everyone, says Theo Tzanidis.
For many Scottish families, the weekly shop has become an exercise in anxiety. The price of basics such as bread, milk and meat continues to climb, often blamed on a “perfect storm” of global forces like the pandemic and energy spikes. Yet, behind the headlines sits a more uncomfortable truth: while shoppers pay more, the people who actually produce our food are earning less and less. This is not simply bad luck; it is the result of a deeply unbalanced “hourglass” food system.
At the top are tens of thousands of Scottish farms — from Highland cattle producers to dairy units in the south-west. At the bottom sit over five million consumers. In the narrow middle, power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of large retailers who dictate prices in both directions. On a £3.50 pack of beefburgers, the farmer’s profit can be less than 0.1p, while the retailer earns roughly 70 times that amount.
This economic “squeeze” has devastating consequences for our rural heartlands. It is not just about thin margins; it is about the erosion of a way of life. As family farms become unviable, we see a rise in business closures and a worrying trend of young people leaving their communities to find work elsewhere. When the farm closes, the local school and shop often follow, weakening the resilience of rural Scotland.
Against this backdrop, a recent initiative led by the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) offers a glimpse of a different future. Through a new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, academics, technology specialists, and farmers were brought together to tackle a shared problem: how to make the food chain fairer and more resilient.
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Many might ask why farmers need a university course. The reality is that most farmers are simply too busy trying to sustain their businesses to find the time to redesign entire market systems. A recent poll of Arla’s British dairy farmers highlighted a worsening labour crisis, with 84% of farmers struggling to find workers with the right skills and 13% of farmers ready to quit due to staff shortages. There is little “headspace” left for technological innovation.
The UWS CPD programme, funded through the Digital Dairy Chain, provides that space, allowing farmers to step back from the daily grind and collaborate with experts to understand tools that can help them regain control. The University of the West of Scotland connects advanced agricultural research with practical commercial support, helping farmers adopt sustainable technologies while meeting environmental targets and through the delivery of the “Cryptocurrency and Blockchain for Rural Business” CPD UWS is aiming at recalibrating the food supply chain a bloc at a time.
Much of the discussion during the course centred on a technology that many people associate with speculation and hype. Strip away the jargon, however, and its core idea is simple. It is a shared digital record that cannot be quietly altered or manipulated by any single organisation. For food production, this matters. Farmers already generate huge amounts of information about animal welfare, environmental impact and quality standards. Too often, that data is handed over for free, used to meet compliance requirements, and then disappears into corporate systems.
A shared digital record changes the rules. It allows producers to prove, independently, how food was made and under what conditions. Payments can be triggered automatically when goods leave the farm, rather than weeks later. Environmental improvements – such as lower-carbon production – can be verified and rewarded directly. This is less about shiny innovation and more about restoring basic fairness and transparency.
The importance of this digital “truth” is most visible during food safety scares. In the past, outbreaks like Salmonella in eggs or E. coli led to weeks of forensic paper-trail chasing, often resulting in massive amounts of safe food being destroyed because its origin couldn’t be proven quickly. Blockchain changes this. International retailers like Walmart have demonstrated that tracing a product’s origin can be reduced from nearly seven days to just 2.2 seconds. In Scotland, this means faster, targeted responses that protect public health while ensuring farmers whose produce is safe aren’t unfairly penalised by blanket bans.
The UWS initiative also explored local digital exchange systems, such as The Scotcoin Project CIC, designed to keep value circulating within Scottish communities. By utilising ethical cryptocurrencies, farmers can be paid instantly via Smart Contracts when goods leave the farm, rather than waiting weeks for payment. When money stays local, it supports the very businesses and services that keep rural communities alive. This is a practical vision for a food system that works for everyone — farmers, consumers, and communities alike.
The benefits are not confined to farmers. When unnecessary layers of administration and duplication are removed, costs fall. When value is not siphoned off by inefficiency, more can be shared between producer and consumer. A system that allows farmers to earn a sustainable living does not have to mean higher prices on the shelf. There are also clear gains in food safety and trust. Faster traceability reduces waste, strengthens Scotland’s food reputation overseas and protects premium exports from imitation and fraud.
What emerges from this work is not a return to the past, nor a technocratic fantasy. It is a practical vision of a food system that works for everyone. By combining academic insight, technological expertise and lived farming experience, Scotland has an opportunity to lead rather than follow. The tools already exist. The challenge now is one of will: to move away from an over-centralised, fragile system and towards one that is transparent, fair and fit for the future. The hourglass that has defined our food chain for decades is not inevitable. With the right choices, it can be reshaped.
