Shortbread brand celebrates Tartan Week in the states
SPEYSIDE-BASED shortbread brand Walker’s Shortbread has celebrated 125 years of the business with an appearance at the New York City Tartan Week.
As one of America’s most beloved Scottish brands, Walker’s made its way to the Big Apple to take part in the Tartan Week Parade which sees the city awash in tartan colours and design.
To celebrate the culmination of this year’s event Walker’s Shortbread has recreated the most iconic part of the New York skyline with a miniature shortbread replica of the Empire State Building.
The towering 102-storey Empire State Building was recreated for parade goers to enjoy as a 527-piece Walker’s Shortbread artwork which was built by UK food artist Prudence Staite.
Walker’s said the miniature Empire State Building was a fitting tribute for the Tartan Week celebrations with the brand noting its long-standing ties with the USA.
America marked the brand’s first export market in 1976 and was home to Walker’s first international office.
And the States remains Walker’s biggest export market as well, with record sales set during 2023 for the brand and over 50million pieces of the Shortbread Fingers enjoyed across America every year.
Alastair Walker, head of international sales at Walker’s Shortbread, said: “Walker’s is a proud Scottish brand, however, we always try to create a sense of place through our products in the close to 100 international markets we export to.
“What is so important to us is that we celebrate our own heritage while also nodding to the cultures and traditions of the markets in which we’re sold.
“Our shortbread Empire State Building is a great example of this and the ideal way for us to mark the celebrations.
“We first started exporting to the US, with so many ex-pats living in country it was an opportunity to provide many of them with a taste of Scotland.
“For almost 50 years we’ve experienced increased demand for our all-butter shortbread, as people want to indulge in a quality product which is made with care, from only four natural ingredients, in the Scottish Highlands.”
