IN Brief:
- Scottish SME food and drink manufacturers can apply for up to £5,000 for reformulation projects.
- The support is linked to Scotland’s HFSS promotion and placement rules, which come into force on 1 October 2026.
- Funding can cover trial ingredients, nutrition analysis, recipe software, and specialist consultancy.
FDF Scotland has launched a new funding round to support Scottish SME food and drink manufacturers as they reformulate products ahead of incoming high fat, sugar, and salt rules.
Scottish manufacturers can apply for up to £5,000 to support projects that improve the nutritional content of existing products. The funding is open to companies seeking to improve nutrition profiles, including products that are not directly in scope of the new HFSS regulations.
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 will come into force on 1 October 2026. Products classified as HFSS using the UK Nutrient Profiling Model score will face restrictions on where and how they can be promoted in stores.
Products in scope will no longer be eligible for location-based promotions such as end-of-aisle displays, store entrance displays, or volume price promotions such as buy-one-get-one-free and multi-buy offers. Seasonal and provenance promotions, including Burns Night, St Andrew’s Day, and Christmas campaigns, will also be affected.
The categories in scope include soft drinks with added sugar, confectionery, breakfast cereals, yoghurts and desserts, cakes and biscuits, savoury snacks, pizza, ready meals, chips, and other potato products.
The new funding sits within FDF Scotland’s Reformulation for Health Programme, which provides confidential support for SME manufacturers. Alongside grant funding, the programme offers help with understanding the regulations, calculating Nutrient Profiling Model scores, and identifying reformulation options across product categories.
Funding 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. Applications are open until 31 May 2026.
“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,” said Joanne Burns, reformulation for health manager at FDF Scotland.
“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.”
Reformulation rarely stops at an ingredient adjustment. Reducing sugar, salt, saturated fat, or calories can alter sweetness perception, texture, water activity, shelf life, bake performance, viscosity, colour, cost, allergen position, and label declarations. A revised recipe still has to move through production trials, nutritional testing, packaging updates, commercial sign-off, and customer approval.
The window before implementation leaves limited room for slow technical cycles. Products that rely on promotions to drive volume face particular exposure. HFSS rules do not ban affected products, but they can reduce access to prominent displays and volume promotions, changing sales velocity, manufacturing forecasts, and working-capital requirements.
The funding also reflects a policy shift from voluntary reformulation targets towards retail execution. Nutritional profile now has a direct link to promotional access. Ingredients, recipe design, and production capability are becoming commercial tools, not just technical considerations.
Scottish SMEs will need to identify exposed SKUs, calculate current NPM scores, and decide where targeted reformulation can be achieved without undermining quality, cost, or process reliability. The support available through FDF Scotland will not remove the complexity, but it can help reduce the cost of early assessment, trial work, and nutritional verification before the October deadline.
