The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland has launched a round of funding to support Scottish food and drink manufacturers as they prepare for new high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) regulations.
Scottish SME food and drink manufacturers can now apply for up to £5,000 to support reformulation projects that improve the nutritional content of existing products, and applications will be open until 31st May 2026.
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 will come into force on 1st October 2026. Under the regulations, products classified as HFSS using the UK Nutritional Profile Model (NPM) score will face restrictions on where and how they can be promoted in store.
HFSS products in scope will no longer be eligible for location-based promotions, such as end-of-aisle or store entrance displays, or volume price promotions like buy-one-get-one-free or multi-buy offers. Seasonal and provenance promotions – including Burns Night, St Andrew’s Day and Christmas – will also be affected.
Categories in scope include confectionery, breakfast cereals, yogurts and desserts, cakes and biscuits, savoury snacks, pizza, ready meals, chips and other potato products.
The funding of up to £5,000 can be used for costs such as trial ingredients, nutritional analysis, recipe development software and specialist consultancy. NPM scores will be calculated before and after reformulation to demonstrate nutritional improvements.
Joanne Burns, Reformulation for Health Manager at FDF Scotland, said: “With the Scottish HFSS regulations coming into force this October, reformulation is one of the most effective ways businesses can protect shelf space and promotional activity – while also improving the nutritional content of their products.
“Through our Reformulation for Health Programme, we offer free, confidential support to help manufacturers understand their NPM scores and identify realistic reformulation options. This new round of funding is designed to remove some of the cost and risk involved, and we would strongly encourage Scottish SMEs to take advantage of the support now, ahead of the regulations coming into effect.”
Interested manufacturers can apply via the NPM Reduction Fund survey.
