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“Be nice” customers are told ahead of ShopKind Week

The Scottish Retail Consortium has enlisted the support of MSPs to mark the start of ShopKind Week (June 30th-July 6th), asking for shoppers to...
Feta the Better and Urban Eat sandwiches

New year, more vegans

PACKED sandwich maker Adelie Foods has doubled the size of its vegan range
Nae Danger sports drink

Nae kiddin’ – Energy drink performance picking up

IT may have started out as a bit of a laugh (Ross Gourlay, MD of distribution firm Glencrest thought it would be a good...
Glenmorangie distillery

Plans afoot in the glen

THERE’S a lot going on at Glenmorangie at the moment as the Highland distillery gears up to build a new still house as part of a planned expansion.

New fish cakes take the Crown

SEAFOOD brand Ocean Crown has launched what it claims are the first gluten and wheat-free fish cakes. The fish cakes are available in traditional fish...
Mars Chocolate & Drinks vegan dairy free drinks

Dairy free is flying

The non-dairy drinks category is worth £29 million annually, according to Mars Chocolate Drinks & Treats (MCD&T).
soft-drink-hamper-with-scottish-drinks

Local firms get a helping hand

New route to market for producers
Hamlyns Oatmeal

A dinky little oatmeal pack

Scottish porridge brand Hamlyns has extended its range with the launch of a new pack format that could fit neatly into home baking.
nestle-go-free-cereal

Gluten free is going mainstream

Only 1% of gluten free shoppers do it for health
highland-game-Forestry2_

Game on for venison deal

TOP Scottish venison supplier Highland Game Ltd has secured a £13 million contract with Forestry and Land Scotland

The growth of the craft

MAINSTREAM lagers might still provide the biggest beer sales in the off-trade but other parts of the business especially craft beers are very exciting. In...
Hamlyns of Scotland is sponsor on STV of the daytime TV show Let’s Do Lunch. The campign is a key part of the marketing activity behind its Scottish Porridge Sachets and Porridge Pots.

As seen on TV

Hamlyns sponsors new daytime show, Let’s Do Lunch, to promote its instant porridge and porridge pots. OATS brand Hamlyns of Scotland is sponsoring the...
IRN-BRU-XTRA-new-flavours-1

Taste of the summer

THIS summer will see two new variants of Irn-Bru Xtra land on shelves following a consumer poll to choose the limited-edition flavours
Refill station

Refill station reduces waste

A LONDON Nisa store has been offering customers a more eco-friendly way to fill their cupboards
Smoked sausages are a core part of the Polish diet and Smithfield Foods has brought one of the most popular brands, Morliny, to the UK.

Euro growth

POLISH shoppers looking for a taste of home and British shoppers looking for new flavours helped grow the world foods category in the UK...
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,...
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