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A family line up at the start of the Simon Howie Puddin Race ready to take part in the fundraiser.

Simon Howie launches first Puddin’ Race fundraiser for SAMH

A range of chillers inside a store stocked up with meat products with a stand in the middle of the floor with some cupboard essentials on them.

Concerning start to 2025 as inflation hits a 10-month high

A chef holds a piece of Punjab Pakora Square Sausage Pakora in his hand looking at it.

Punjab Pakora launches Square Sausage Pakora for Burns

Four bottles of The Glen Grant whisky are lined up in a row including the 10 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old and 18 Year Old.

Raise a dram of The Glen Grant for the Bard

Pack shot of Nanna Tate Potatoes.

From Nanna to the family table

The award-winning RAER Pedro Ximenez Expression.

Trio of whisky brands for Burns Night

Eden Mill reckons its whisky range should appeal to the broad spectrum of tastes.

Matching various Burns Night whisky tastes

Grant’s Foods reckons its range will suit different consumers’ Burns Night plans.

Scottish flavours popular with shoppers

Taylors Snacks fits crisps to the month

McIntosh brings Oor Wullie to Burns

Irn Bru Xtra cans

Xtra choice at Burns

McIntosh goes digital for Burns Night

Rabbie Burns

Beating the blues with a celebration

Ready to celebrate the Bard

Developing traditions

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

Scottish Grocer and Convenience Retailer
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