Half a decade ago, it seemed as though political leaders Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon were never off our screens, sat or stood alongside flags, telling us to stay at home and keep our distance from others.

The Covid-19 pandemic was earth-shattering for families and businesses across the country as doors were closed and it seemed as though the fabric of our society was changed forever.

After almost two years of rolling lockdowns and restrictions lifting, life started to return to what many people termed a ‘new normal’. But has there been a lasting legacy or have we returned to our old ways?

Like other sectors of the economy, Scottish food and drink businesses were badly affected by Covid. Not only were people in the sector and their families and friends at risk of catching the infection, but they also had to completely adapt their operations to ensure they could continue to operate. The impact of restrictions wasn’t felt uniformly across the sector.

Hospitality was decimated, with massive knock-on impacts for producers who supply those businesses. While many supermarkets recorded record profits over 2020 and 2021 as some people stockpiled, ‘non-essential’ retailers were temporarily shuttered.

But there was also somewhat of a........

© Herald Scotland