The UK grocery market accounts for 50p in every £1 of retail sales, and over half of that money is spent in supermarkets. Jordan Ogg investigates a new supplier development programme that could allow social enterprises to work with large retailers.

Securing a purchase order from a large supermarket is the Holy Grail for mainstream food and drink producers. Should social enterprises be chasing the same goal?

This is exactly what the country’s leading provider of financial capital to the social enterprise sector Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has in mind. The agency has teamed up with supermarket giant Asda to develop the UK’s first ever boot camp for social companies.

Funded by cash raised from the carrier bag levy, the inaugural supplier development academy took place over four days this summer at Asda HQ in Leeds, with 15 social entrepreneurs – 12 of them from Scotland – coming together for a series of masterclasses in mass retail marketing. They now have one year to see if they can scale up their operations and secure the coveted prize of becoming an Asda supplier.

The idea behind the academy is to help social enterprises understand how to work with large retailers, with a view to getting their products onto supermarket shelves. Growth at that scale will allow for radical business development, and in turn increase social impact and reach.

The benefits for Asda will come though offering more choice to its 19 million weekly customers, not to mention the PR appeal of being associated with the ethical enterprise scene. Consider too the fact that Scotland’s social enterprises contribute some £1.7 billion to the economy.

SIS chief executive Alastair Davis, hails the academy as a “huge milestone” in the development of Scotland’s already world-renowned social enterprise sector. He believes it could be a game changer in how social enterprises retail to the public: “By promoting social enterprise products as viable alternatives to their commercial counterparts, we have a fantastic opportunity to significantly increase the revenues raised by the sector and, in turn, create much more sustainable and long term social impacts for our communities up and down the country.”

Social enterprise may be relatively well known in third sector circles, but awareness among the general public is limited. If this is to change, social enterprises need to think about how they can become more mainstream.

It’s one thing going to your local cooperative or weekend market to buy your favourite socially produced groceries, quite another expecting to see them among the big brands in the supermarket, as the social producers themselves know. But this is now a viable goal they can aim for.

The academy set out to give producers an insight on what the big retailers need from a social supplier. Everything was covered, from getting your branding right, to strengthening your logistics chain.

Covering all the bases was something Asda wanted to make sure of, though it was important to recognise the position that social entrepreneurs are coming from. “It must be incredibly daunting for teams at small organisations to approach a big retailer like Asda”, says senior buying manager Michael McCallion, “so to be in a position to offer advice and guidance on how to go about this was a fantastic opportunity for me and really valuable for their business development”.

While it wasn’t quite Dragons’ Den for those who took part, it was still a busy and challenging four days. Reflecting on her experience, Mairi McLaren, head of operations and finance with Impact Arts, said it was jam packed. “We were on the go the whole time, meeting an incredible range of speakers and business people that I wouldn’t usually get the chance to speak to.”

Mairi is now looking at options for upscaling Impact Arts’ range of scarves and textiles which are designed by older people experiencing social isolation. Already the company knows it will probably have to change the fabric it uses to meet the required scale. It is also looking into sourcing the right long-term manufacturer, ideally another social enterprise.

So will Impact Arts be going for the Asda gold? “We learned so much that it would be crazy not to take up the opportunity”, says Mairi. Although she adds that it will be part of a more general push at getting into other markets.

The feeling is shared by Ingrid Webb of Cope Ltd, the social enterprise behind the Shetland Soap Company which provides work placements for adults with disabilities: “We are currently putting the final touches to our growth plans whilst also engaging in conversation about a number of potential routes to market for our products.

“The academy gave us so much valuable information into the intricacies of supplying large national retailers. It showed us what we needed to improve on, gave us insight into customers, marking and buying habits. It also gave us valuable information regarding logistics and getting our product to stores on time and in the required condition.”

Alan Mahon, founder of Brewgooder, a relative newcomer to the social enterprise scene, is more certain about where he wants to go. “It’s a big ambition for us to become stocked by Asda,” he says. His product taps into the current trend for craft beer, but does so by offering customers the satisfaction of knowing that the profits from their purchase are being invested in clean water schemes in the developing world.

“As one of the leading supermarkets, it’s a large route to market and a fantastic platform to get our message and our beers out to customers. With the volumes of scale involved, it would accelerate our impact and the number of clean water projects we can support.”

Having recently forged a partnership with Scottish craft beer behemoth Brewdog, the chances for Brewgooder couldn’t be better.

As for the other alumni of the first supplier development academy, only time will tell. What’s certain is that SIS is committed to continuing with the scheme. Plans are being made for next year’s academy to be bigger and better, with events tailored to suit a wider range of social enterprises.

It seems safe to say that at least some of Scotland’s social enterprises look set for supermarket stardom in the not too distant future.