The Heart of the High Street: Choosing Local in St Andrews

“People don't realise how local we are,” said Trajan Nader of Blackhorn Burgers. Amongst a growing sea of commercial chains, the ecosystem of local produce in St Andrews is often overlooked. I spoke to three businesses here in St Andrews to explore how local produce can shape both community and individual wellbeing.

With food sources as close as Luvians, Fisher & Donaldson, and Hendersons Farms, Blackthorn employees Nader and Ryan Rooney both described Blackhorn as an operation with compact scale and great ease. 

The company was founded in 2013 by Justin Hughes, who was brought up in St Andrews and sought to create a brand that ties community to business. “I'm sure people would come here a lot more knowing it's all locally produced. When people realise how local it is, it definitely puts a smile on their face,” Nader and Rooney explained. “More than half of our customers are students. Blackhorn and [...] [the] University [have] a symbiotic relationship.” The pair explained that this relationship with students is integral to the character of their company. 

The challenges of a local supply chain were revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nader and Rooney said: “When you look at the supply chain impact, smaller firms have slowly fallen away. The price of beef has increased more than 50% in the past two years.” 

Despite this increase, Blackhorn wants to ensure affordability. “It's a pleasure for us to be serving students, but when it's unaffordable for them, you're not able to see the true extent to which they value it,” they said.

In the face of these challenges, Rooney spoke of the need for continued support. “So long as people can continue to support local small businesses, we can keep that ecosystem going,” he said. Their ‘St Andrews Sevens’ Biannual sponsored rugby game is yet another integration of local life and a testament to Blackhorn staying local through every side of the interaction.

Understanding the local is altered in St Andrews with its internationalism. Whether it be golf courses attracting visiting Americans, our international student body, or tourists on day trips, what on paper is a small, secluded town, is in reality an international hub. The town’s internationalism is both a magnet for more commercial businesses and a market for local storefronts. 

“I think about this a lot. It's my job to think about it,” said an employee at the Isle of Skye Candle Co. “The international side is what keeps companies in St Andrews going. That's why companies like this, as opposed to in Perth, for example, can thrive.” 

The Isle of Skye Candle Co. is a Scottish-owned and founded family business set up in 2006. The company offered a new alternative in the consumer market — the first soy candle company in the UK. Using Scottish oils in their candles, they preserve local craft and showcase local material. 

The company’s large consumer base can be attributed to its foundations in Scottish produce. “People travel from all over for this. You can't buy candles like ours normally. Students often come in here looking to buy presents. We have niche products that you can't find anywhere else,” she explained.  

At the heart of the company’s success is its process. “There is pride in this stuff, and understanding what the local and aesthetic image is,” explained the employee. The company champions sustainability, but also image, guided by a mission to preserve what Scotland has to offer. Its ability to attract customers from all over is unsurprising, bridging St Andrews’ international community with its local. 

Choosing local is more than just doing what's right for the community — it's about doing right by yourself and the personal choices we make. Often this demands changing our relationship to the products we consume.

Byrde Dixon, the founder of Five Acres, promotes the individual's relationship with local produce. Inside Five Acres, is an atmosphere of celebration — one that encourages consumers to curate a healthy relationship with local food. “Partially, we started this because we love cooking and growing, but also we wanted to show people what we can do with it,” Dixon said. “We have a place where we can cook the food that reflects our people.” 

Working with East Neuk Market Garden through a collective farming model, the seed-to-plate process takes place within a fifteen-minute radius. When asked what makes the farming process so different to that of large-scale companies, Dixon said it's the flexibility of unique growth in produce: “The difference is the actual produce you can access. On a farm, we have specialist crops that would never be accessible from big companies.” Writing the menu a week before it's served, the cafe revolves around food that the farm can produce. 

As a St Andrews alumna herself, she noted the increasing impulse to eat organically, and how liberating it is seeing students nowadays making choices to eat locally. “Organics fourteen years ago were a niche thing, and would put people off. There has been a very positive trend towards them,” she explained. “It's lovely to create a space where people are engaged with what they eat.”

Whether it be a choice for the community, bridging the gap between internationalism and locality, or due to your own relationship with local food, celebrating our St Andrews staples is integral to preserving the heart of the town. As Rooney said, “Help us so that we can help you.” 

As Dixon explained, the choice of Scottish produce is one that is “purely for your own enjoyment. When you eat local, you can taste the joy.” 

Illustration by Eleanor Vielhaber