SWEET LITTLE MYSTERY Golden Casket is one of the largest and most innovative confectionery specialists in the UK and has been growing successfully for nearly 60 years with brands dating back to the 18th century. The business is now run by the second and third generation of the Rae family. Paul Andrews went to meet them to find out more.
It was back in 1959 that the journey began. Douglas Rae, a qualified banker with £100 in his pocket set out to create a business to market confectionery from scratch. His family, friends and colleagues within the banking sector thought he was mad but Douglas had a vision. At that time, young bankers were poorly remunerated and with a young family Douglas was looking for a way to provide for his family and concluding that banking was not the route for him, took the plunge and set up his own business. He began distributing confectionery to the independent retail sector across Scotland, literally operating out the back of a van which he christened his Golden Casket. Within a couple of years, the company moved into its first premises in Greenock with the
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exclusive rights to distribute the Daintee brands, Kunzle Cakes and Bensdorp confectionery. Sales grew over the course of the 60’s especially through the Kunzle Cake brand and by 1968, Golden Casket had 12 salesmen and an annual turnover of over half a million pounds. Then in 1969 Charles Forte acquired Kunzle which was not good news for Golden Casket as it virtually signalled the end of the relationship that had been significant in their growth to date. As Crawford adds, “On acquiring the Kunzle business Forte naturally wanted to have the profitable Scotland operation for himself so in exchange for the Scottish Kunzle business, Forte agreed to give Golden Casket the Scottish agency for Fuller’s, a business that was famous for
manufacturing cakes, chocolates and sugar confectionery.” Fuller’s was a sister company of Terry’s of York which was also owned by Forte. Business continued and soon the team had built up sales to replace the Kunzle sales. Two years later and another key moment in the history of the business took place, partly as a result of the values and relationships that Douglas and the team had already demonstrated. Terry’s announced that Fuller’s was to be sold with negotiations already taking place with an American manufacturer who saw the acquisition as a route for their own products into the UK market. This was potentially a devastating blow to Golden Casket so Douglas immediately headed to York for talks with the
