IF 2013 was a great year for Falkirk-based meat products producer Malcolm Allan, 2014 is likely to turn out to be important to the company’s development too.
Last year in our Top 40 Scottish brands in the Scottish take-home market Malcolm Allan moved into 2nd place behind only the mighty soft drinks brand Irn-Bru.
And just before Christmas the firm opened its new headquarters and processing facility in Larbert, three miles from its old HQ. The development took place after the company agreed a £2.9m finance deal with Bank of Scotland.
The company produces pies, haggis, black pudding as well as a wide range of breakfast goods and is responsible for the majority of Lorne sausage in Scotland. It supplies major grocers, has established relationships with Nisa, Spar and Palmer and Harvey and aims to expand its presence in convenience stores – in part thanks to the greater capacity and efficiency the new plant will provide.
That being said the firm’s success in recent times means much of the expected 50% increase in capacity, allowed for when the company was planning the project, has already been taken up, director Gordon Allan said.
“That’s what we had planned but we hadn’t expected the situation at Halls where a huge facility at Broxburn closed, I don’t think anybody expected that”
And sales of branded products, such as Malcolm Allan mince, which the firm had supplied to supermarkets looking to replace own-label lines that hadn’t made it to Scotland at times during recent bad winters, had been maintained, he explained.
“So we planned for 50% extra capacity but we’ve grown at 20% or so for two years and that adds up to nearly that original 50%.
Famous for its pies (all hand-filled and hand-lidded) and its Lorne sausage, the firm has also been busy on new product development and plans more.
“We had a a bit of success with burgers,” Gordon Allan said.
“We brought out a healthier burger – low salt, gluten-free. It sold well and is now in the range all year round.
“So we’re going to bring out healthier Lornes.”
