Aerial shot of the Ochil Hills in Perthshire.

Highland Spring focuses on nature with Woodland Trust partnership

Scottish bottled water brand Highland Spring has partnered up with the Woodland Trust to expand its nature-driven restoration work in Ochil Hills, Perthshire.

Scotland by the bottle

LOCH Lomond Group, the company behind Glen’s vodka, has  set out to invigorate its whisky and vodka brands through a period of multimillion pound...
Graham’s

Graham’s in the top spot

SCOTTISH dairy brand Graham’s has become the top-selling take-home block butter in the country. The firm says Kantar Worldpanel research for the...
Old El Paso talking tacos

Filling up on talking tacos

GOOD dinner conversation can make or break a meal, but what happens when the tortillas do the talking?
loose fruit and veg in aldi supermarket

Best before dates scrapped to slash waste at Aldi

Aldi is set to remove best before dates across a selection of fresh fruit and veg lines by the end of the year, as part of it's commitment to reduce food waste.

Yanks for sharing

It’s US Independence Day next month and there are now many American treats available in the UK AMERICAN confectionery has been growing in popularity in...
Chivas Brothers has shared its energy tech with the industry.

Chivas Brothers shares sustainability knowledge

Chivas Brothers is sharing its sustainability technology developments with others in the whisky industry in a bid to cut emissions.
Swizzles puds vegan

Vegan confectionery helps growth

Vegan can be sweet. That’s the view of sugar confectionery manufacturer Swizzels.
Vitalite

Big demand for dairy free

Dairy-free fever is spreading in the UK. Kantar data for the year to 5 September revealed 45% volume sales growth for dairy-free spreads, with the category now valued at £49.6m annually in the UK.

Proof is in the pudding

A North Berwick butcher has been crowned Scotland’s top black pudding maker .

Ask the Expert – Danfoss

Gareth Ash, marketing communications manager at Danfoss, offers retailers insights and solutions to help make their stores more sustainable.
Archie Jess, above right, with Andrew Hemphill, president of Greenock Chamber of Commerce.

For a life in food – Jess recognised at awards ceremony

ARCHIE Jess, the driving force behind the meat processing business the AP Jess Group, has taken the Lifetime Achievement award in the Greenock Chamber...

Pairing with the gardens

TAYLORS of Harrogate is expanding its green tea line-up with the arrival of a new blend. The firm says its new Green Tea & Delicate...

Brands stress choice

COMPANIES and brands throughout food and drink have been working to produce products that give options to consumers who want to choose items with,...
THE institution of the Burns Supper, now an annual celebration of the works of Scotland’s – and one of the world’s – great poets, Robert Burns, began in the very early 19th century. In 1801 some chums who were great admirers of the recently departed Rabbie, and who were also pretty fond of a dram, met on the fifth anniversary of the great writer’s death to wine, dine, toast his memory and recite some of his works. The following year the celebration moved to the date of the bard’s birthday 25 January and the rest as they say is history. The Burns Supper habit spread across Scotland. Within a few years a Burns Supper was being held in Oxford University. Today they are held all over the world. These days formal suppers can be quite posh with a multi-course dinner, a piper, a toast to the immortal memory of our great literary hero, a cheeky toast to the lassies, an even cheekier reply from the lassies, an address to the haggis and a recitation of Burns’ great narrative poem Tam o’Shanter. Other celebrations in homes and elsewhere are often much simpler. But virtually all will include two items that retailers can highlight in Burns season each year ... haggis and whisky. It’s sad that, because of marketing restrictions on alcohol products in Scottish off-trade outlets, it’s effectively impossible to cross-promote the two Burns Supper essentials or even to place them together in a display. But that’s all the more reason to promote them individually. Try highlighting haggis in your meat chiller, carry a few different sizes to suit the variety of sizes of households, use point-of-sale material to remind shoppers of Burns Night and the part that haggis plays in the celebrations. And you could make January a special malts month or simply arrange to focus on whisky generally in your drinks area. If you have a whisky deal that’s giving you a good margin highlight it within your drinks section. And creating a Burns theme in store, with tartan and maybe even pictures of the man himself, will help get the message across.

Power of the Bard

THE institution of the Burns Supper, now an annual celebration of the works of Scotland’s – and one of the world’s – great poets,...
Ristorante lactose free pizza

Mamma Mia! Lactose-free pizza

Being lactose-intolerant would usually mean that frozen pizzas were firmly off-limits.