With retailers, and especially large food retailers, increasingly under attack, well done to The Grocer for highlighting the very positive role they are playing in boosting the rural economy of Scotland ('Taking to the high ground', 2 September, p45).

It is an economy that is heavily dependent on its food production and processing, and it is fair to say that the retailers are its biggest customers.

The supermarket shelf is the key route used by Scottish producers to reach their customers and absolutely no one has worked harder than Scottish retailers to bring about benefits to both.

Retailers are continually looking at ways to source more food in Scotland, to badge it clearly and to promote it. But it is important to stress that this is a success story that is driven by the customer.

Scottish produce has an enviable and justifiable reputation for quality that the shopper finds reassuring. And with the public becoming more and more interested in the exact story behind the food they buy, demand from consumers for Scottish food is growing. What is more, with issues such as health, food safety and environmental sustainability very much on the agenda, that reputation for quality will increasingly become even more important.

Given that fact, it is crucial that neither the food industry nor politicians should ever make the mistake of dictating to customers the products that they should and should not have. It is imperative that the supply chain must be able to respond to the public mood. It cannot take it upon itself to dictate to shoppers.

Bearing that in mind, the Scottish Retail Consortium will continue to encourage the Scottish Executive and the local enterprise networks to work with retailers, processors and suppliers. The aim of that work will, of course, be that a better quality and an increasing number of Scottish products will make it on to the shelves, both in Scotland and beyond its borders.?