Scottish Grocer December 2016 by Peebles Media Group

DECEMBER 2016

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NEWS 4 Pack changes explained 5 Minimum pricing for Supreme Court 6 Half of drinks below MUP 7 Lucozade’s low sugar rush 8 Price hikes set for take off 10 Widening SGF’s role 12 Discounter growth slows 16 News review 2016 18 Living the local dream 21 SG profile: Family Shopper High Blantyre 24 SG profile: Premier Arbroath Party Time

FEATURES 34 Scottish brands review (non-alcohol) 70 Scottish brands review (alcohol) 76 Christmas and New Year drinks 78 Paper products 80 2017 forecast

BUSINESS, PROPERTY AND LEGAL 26 Rules for gift giving MARKET NEWS 28 Awakening a loaf affair 30 Sausage sensation 31 Cheese by the bar 32 Spring some surprises December 2016 l

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MANAGING EDITOR Patrick Duffy 0141 567 6074 patrick.duffy@peeblesmedia.com ASSISTANT EDITOR John McNee 0141 567 6032 john.mcnee@peeblesmedia.com GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER Catherine Melaney 0141 567 6026 catherine.melaney@peeblesmedia.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER Caroline Maciver 0141 567 6063 caroline.maciver@peeblesmedia.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Claire Alexander 0141 567 6064 claire.alexander@peeblesmedia.com Faye Stacey 0141 567 6042 faye.stacey@peeblesmedia.com

DESIGN MANAGER Linda Park 0141 567 6065 linda.park@peeblesmedia.com ASSISTANT DESIGN MANAGER Ashley Johnston 0141 567 6030 ashley.johnston@peeblesmedia.com

CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Malwina Bieniawska 0141 567 6004 malwina.bieniawska@peeblesmedia.com

Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Printed by Headley Brothers Scottish Grocer (monthly) £69.00 (UK), £80.00 (overseas) Enquiries to Malwina Bieniawska malwina.bieniawska@peeblesmedia.com © Peebles Media Group 2016

Peebles Media Group The Albus, 110 Brook St, Glasgow, G40 3AP Telephone: 0141 567 6000 E-mail (advertising): scottishgrocersales@peeblesmedia.com ISSN 1759-1252

welcome Editor’s comment

by Patrick Duffy, managing editor, Scottish Grocer

A year to remember? WELL, it’s December; where on earth did the year go? And let’s face it, 2016 has been a bit of a year. Last December we were ensconced in the European Union, David Cameron was Prime Minister, George Osborne was Chancellor of the Exchequer, the United States knew there would be an experienced politician in the White House for the next 12 months, and no-one was really thinking about another Scottish independence referendum any time soon. Now we are, to put it mildly, in a different place. We’ve seen the implementation of the National Living Wage, watched retailers go through the auto-enrollment pension system and heard the news that sugary soft drinks will attract a new government charge that could lead to big price increases on key products in Scottish c-stores. We’ve also entered the transition period, which will culminate in May with cigarettes and rolling tobacco being sold in near-identical packs. We’ve heard that the number of symbol stores has fallen for the first time in many years but at the same time we have seen some fantastic progress in symbols and independents in areas like fresh produce, chilled food, food to go, parcel services and much more. And if 2017 turns out to be as tumultuous as this year we can be fairly confident that we’ll continue to see that type of progress, not least in Scotland. 2017 will also be the first full year of the new Scottish Parliamentary Cross Party Group on Independent Retailing and it will be very interesting to see what that might achieve. This isn’t just the last Scottish Grocer of 2016. It’s also my last issue as editor. After around 34 years in business-to-business journalism covering the licensed trade, catering and hospitality, and food and drink retailing, I’ve decided to retire. In recent years, in the Scottish convenience retailing industry, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of meeting, working with, and learning from some excellent people who have great business ideas and remarkable energy and humour. And I’ve met with some, a good number I have to say, whose commitment to their communities and to people in general is inspiring. I hope to meet many folks again. But just for now I want simply to say thanks... and keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s great! My colleague John takes over as editor from our next issue. He’s been heavily involved in some of the magazine’s most interesting and successful developments in the last couple of years and I know he has some very interesting ideas for the future. Have a great December and a successful and peaceful holiday season. And all the very best. December 2016 l l 3

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news

Leonard for VP Day-Today controller takes on key SGF role

Are you in the running? THE Scottish Grocer Awards entries are in and the first judging is about to begin as we look for Scotland’s champion convenience retailers. Our panel of judges will soon be on the road as we cross Scotland visiting short-listed candidates in a comprehensive range of awards categories. And this year will be the first for two new awards categories – Best New Store and Forecourt Retailer of the Year. Keep watching SG for all the news of the Scottish Grocer Awards.

Alcohol has most promos ALCOHOL is the category with the most on-pack promotions, says research firm Hive. Carrying out research in Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco, the company found that 28% of on-pack promotions were in the wine, beer and spirits aisles. Breakfast cereals came second with 13%. Half of all on-pack promotions now use unique codes with almost 90% requiring purchase.

THE Scottish Grocers Federation has announced the appointment of Mike Leonard as its new vice-president. With a wealth of experience gained through senior positions in both the retail and wholesale sectors of the industry, Leonard is currently controller of the Day-Today convenience channel at United Wholesale Scotland.

SGF President Dennis Williams, who nominated Leonard for the role, said: “Mike has just the right character and experience that we need to complete the new presidential team. There is no doubt in my mind that he is the right person for the job.” Leonard will assume the role of vice-president at the SGF annual conference in 2018.

Mike Leonard, controller Day-Today and vice-president SGF.

Alerting smokers to pack changes TOBACCO firm JTI has launched an information campaign to tell adult smokers about the changes starting to affect their tobacco packaging as a result of new regulations. With research suggesting almost half of the UK’s 9m smokers are not fully aware that packs are changing, the campaign is designed to support retailers by providing factual information about the changes, JTI said. Running online and across UK print media, the communications explain that the UK Government has introduced plain packaging for tobacco products, which must be fully implemented by May 2017. Smokers are also given details of a website operated by JTI -

YOUR TOBACCO PACK IS CHANGING

The UK Government has introduced plain packaging for tobacco products. Packs must be compliant by May 2017, but some changes have already started which include: No packaging designs Standardised colour Increased health warnings Smaller packs will also be banned, therefore tobacco products must contain: Minimum 20 cigarettes per pack Minimum 30g rolling tobacco per pouch FOR MORE FACTS ON THE CHANGES TO TOBACCO PACKAGING, PLEASE VISIT WWW.PACKCHANGES.CO.UK

JTI’s new information campaign will run online and in print.

www.packchanges.co.uk - that has more information on chang-

es to tobacco packaging including the banning of smaller tobacco pack sizes and increases in the size of health warnings. Charlie Cunningham-Reid, JTI’s UK head of corporate affairs, said: “We have spoken to retailers and listened to their concerns. Our retail customers need extensive communications support now that the new packs have started to appear in shops, as it’s clear that many UK smokers don’t yet know that these changes are taking place.” www.packchanges.co.uk includes detail on what, when and why the changes are taking place, and the information campaign also includes posters and leaflets that are available in retail shops across the UK.

Branded food to go leads BRANDED food-to-go is taking big bites out of independent competitors, according to research from the NPD Group. Since 2008, brands in the UK have boosted annual sales from around £20.9bn to 4 l

well over £30bn today, while independents have seen sales dive from £30bn to £23.2bn. “For the branded sector to have reversed its market share with independents over just eight years underlines how quickly Britain’s

foodservice market is changing,” said Cyril Lavenant, director of foodservice UK. “When the public choose where to eat out, people are clearly voting for brands.”

l December 2016

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Drinks price case goes all the way Scotch Whisky Association takes MUP to Supreme Court MINIMUM unit pricing (MUP) has once again been delayed as the Scotch Whisky Association takes its legal battle to the highest court in the land. As reported by Scottish Grocer last month, plans to implement MUP for alcohol in Scotland were given the green light by the Court of Session in Edinburgh, which said the measure would not breach European Law. However, the SWA, which brought the appeal to the Court of Session in the first place, has decided to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, the last legal lever available to the organisation. Julie Hesketh-Laird, acting chief executive of the SWA, said that opting to pursue an appeal “is not a decision we have taken lightly”, and comes after “wide consultation with our member companies and other parties to the case to see whether there is an alternative way forward”. “However, given our strong

The Court of Session said the Scottish Government could require retailers to charge a minimum price for alcohol. Holyrood wants that to be 50p per unit of alcohol.

view that minimum pricing is incompatible with EU law and likely to be ineffective, we now hope that our appeal can be heard quickly in the UK Supreme Court,” she said. “Having studied the ruling, we believe the Scottish court has not properly reviewed the legislation’s compatibility with EU law as required by the European Court’s judgment.”

Health secretary Shona Robison said the group’s decision was “deeply disappointing”. “I think the SWA may want to consider that minimum unit pricing was passed with the overwhelming support of the parliament, has been tested in Europe, and has now been approved twice in the Scottish courts. “We remain committed to ongoing dialogue with the alcohol industry. Should the SWA drop their appeal, and accept that the time has now come to implement this measure that will save lives, they could expect very strong support from across Scotland. “We remain determined to implement this policy as soon as possible, and we’re confident that, like the Court of Session, the Supreme Court will find the policy to be lawful,” she said. Minimum Unit Pricing was first passed by MSPs in May 2012 and would set a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol sold.

pay for workers who earn more than NLW. Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond confirmed the move in his Autumn Statement last month. The new rate is 10p lower than had been expected at this stage when the National Living Wage was first announced by the previous chancellor George Osborne. Think tank the Resolution

NATIONAL Lottery ticket sales for the first six months of the financial year were down £226m on the same period last year, Camelot has announced. Camelot CEO Andy Duncan said: “With the current climate of economic uncertainty and signs that consumers are being more cautious with their spending, we expect the next six months to be similarly challenging. “But, with some great plans lined up, there’s still all to play for in the second half of the year.”

Changes could cost indies

NLW to rise to £7.50 an hour THE National Living Wage, introduced at a rate of £7.20 an hour for workers over the age of 25, will rise to £7.50 an hour from April next year. The new rate will mean full time workers on NLW will see a pay increase of more than £500 a year. But it will add to wage costs for many businesses, including many convenience stores, who are likely also to have to increase

Lottery sales down

Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond.

Foundation now forecasts that by 2020 the living wage will reach £8.20 an hour.

NEW retail music tariffs from PRS for Music will cost the c-store sector an extra £1.2m, with small shops hit hardest, the ACS has warned. Under the proposals, any business that previously had a reduced rate for having a small audible area will pay an extra £51.50 each year. “PRS’ planned tariffs will cut costs for many larger stores whilst squeezing more from small stores,”said ACS’s James Lowman. December 2016 l

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news

MUP will hit over half of drinks Trade show makes return FOLLOWING a year’s absence, the Day-Today trade show returned to Glasgow last month. Hundreds of Day-Today and Usave members attended the show at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on November 1, where exclusive deals were on offer along with free samples and a complementary lunch. Suppliers offering advice, deals and giveaways included Tennent’s, Diageo, Premier Foods and others.

Inserts boost THE NFRN has welcomed news from the Telegraph that it is to increase the rates paid to home news delivery retailers for handling third-party advertising inserts. The publisher has confirmed that all rates will go up by 7.64%, backdated to April 1, 2016.

MORE than half of off-trade alcohol sold in Scotland is being sold for less than 50p a unit, the figure set for minimum unit pricing in Scotland, according to new research. Analysis from Nielsen shows at least 50% of alcohol sold by Scottish retailers does not meet impending minimum pricing legislation (now being appealed to the Supreme Court). The company analysed EPOS data from nearly 1,200 Scottish stores, concluding that spirits will be the most affected, as 69% of volume currently sold is below the 50p per unit threshold. Beer is the next most affected (67%) followed by cider (51%), while only 3.4% of wine sales would see an MUP impact. Looking at the top 50 selling products in each category, instead of total volume sales, 76% of the most popular spirits don’t meet minimum pricing compared to 74% in beer, 54% in cider and 12% in wine. Blended Scotch and vodka would be affected most. Blended Scotch, overall, will require average prices to rise 20% to meet the threshold, while vodka will require a 16.3% rise.

How much will retailers have to cha

rge?

Product

Size

Whisky

70cl

40%

£14.00

Whisky

1 litre

40%

£20.00

Vodka

70cl

37.5%

26.25

£13.13

Vodka

1 litre

37.5%

37.5

£18.75

ABV

Units of alcohol

Minimum price when unit price is 50p

Standard lager

500ml

Standard lager

£1

20 x 440ml

35.2

Premium lager

£17.60

330ml

1.65

83p

Strong lager

500ml

Super lager

£2

500ml

4.5

£2.25

Wine

75cl

13.5%

10.125

£5.07

Light wine

75cl

5.5%

4.125

Tonic wine

£2.07

75cl

15%

11.25

Alcoholic energy drink

£5.63

500ml

Cider

£2

4.5%

4.5

Strong cider

£2.25

75cl

7.5%

5.625

Strong cider

£2.82

7.5%

22.5

£11.25

Values calculated by Scottish Groce r, assuming one unit of alcoh pure alcohol. Some other charts may choose to round prices up ol = 10ml of divisible by five. to nearest price

Marika Praticó, senior client manager at Nielsen, said there were a number of implications. “Overall, wine will need to raise prices by the least amount, thus, it becomes more affordable rela-

tive to other alcohol,” she said. “It’s a good time for people to trade up to the more expensive brands, which is likely to have a negative impact on supermarkets’ own-label offerings.”

Tackle forecourt crime FORECOURT crime will be the focus of much of the Petrol Retailers Association’s work in 2017, particularly around the operation of hand car washes. Speaking at the association’s local forum in Perth last month, chairman Brian Madderson said he had been in talks with the government about investigating hand car washes in Scotland. 6 l

“The whole thrust of this is labour exploitation. It is a really serious issue that has the prime minister’s attention. For once we are pushing on open doors with the government,” he said. Further talks will involve the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, who have got investigators in Scotland primed to take part, he said.

“We know that hand car washing can be better regulated. They need to pay their taxes and meet environmental standards, which many don’t at the moment. And they certainly need to avoid exploitation. “We’re looking to do quite a big initiative on forecourt crime next year right across Scotland,” he said.

Brian Madderson, chairman, Petrol Retailers Association

l December 2016

make up fd p6 and 7 News MUP effects Lucozade sugar D (P).indd 1

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Low sugar rush Nisa to service more McColl’s NISA is to supply 298 convenience stores recently acquired by McColl’s in a deal from the Co-operative Group. Nisa is scheduled to begin supplying the first of the new stores in January. Nick Read, CEO of Nisa Retail Limited, said: “We’re delighted to have secured the contract to supply these 298 stores for McColl’s and to extend our relationship with them further.”

LUCOZADE Ribena Suntory has revealed plans to slash the sugar content in its drinks by 50%. Starting from July 2017, the firm says all existing and new drinks containing added sugar will have less than 4.5g of total sugar per 100ml (approximately a teaspoon) — and zero and low calorie alternatives will be available for each brand. By reformulating in this way, LRS will avoid the UK government’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy, also known as the ‘sugar tax’. Peter Harding, chief operating officer at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, said: “The world has changed with consumers now wanting healthier drinks and more action from the brands

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show

Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s plans mean it will bypass the sugar tax.

they regularly enjoy. “We believe our decision to radically reduce sugar by 50% in Ribena, Lucozade and Orangina, while still delivering a fantastic taste, is a great moment for our

company, our loyal consumers and for the wider food and drink industry. “I’m also excited to reaffirm our passion for inspiring people to move more with our multi-million pound investment over the next three years.” As part of the plan, LRS will also clearly display calories on front of pack and invest £30m over the next three years in sport and exercise to help get people moving more. The announcement was made in the same week that Tesco revealed the sugar content in its own brand soft drinks has been cut by up to 50% over the last five years. The sugar tax is due to come into force in April 2018.

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make up fd p6 and 7 News MUP effects Lucozade sugar D (P).indd 2

22/11/2016 16:10

news

Price hikes set for take off

After years of static or falling prices inflation is just around the corner SGF chief executive Pete Cheema with first minister Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood.

SGF draws the political crowd FIRST minister Nicola Sturgeon was one of the first MSPs to be presented with a copy of the latest Scottish Local Shop Report during the Scottish Grocers Federation’s three-day exhibition in the Scottish Parliament last month. As with the previous exhibition in 2015, SGF’s event was sited just outside the debating chamber at Holyrood, which proved to be a great location for engaging with both MSPs and Scottish government ministers. SGF’s head of policy John Lee said: “One of the main aims of the exhibition was to launch the Scottish Local Shop Report in parliament and to highlight to MSPs the importance of the independent convenience store sector. “Opposition party leaders Ruth Davidson, Kezia Dugdale and Patrick Harvey were also given the report. Social media played a big part in the event, with MSPs tweeting and retweeting about the report and the importance of supporting local shops. The first minister follows SGF on Twitter. “The exhibition was also a very effective platform for promoting and raising awareness of the new Cross Party Group on Independent Convenience Stores.” 8 l

AFTER a long period of food price stagnation or deflation things look set to change dramatically. Prices will be significantly on the rise soon, say companies in Scotland’s food and drink industry. While the UK official inflation rate actually slipped back, from 1% to 0.9%, at the last count, much higher inflation rates are expected and food prices are expected to see some of the highest increases. Leaders of some of Scotland’s most important food companies told Scottish Grocer prices of raw materials, energy and packaging were already rising and that it is only a matter of time before price hikes have to be passed on by wholesalers and retailers. At Graham’s the Family Dairy managing director Robert Graham said prices are being affected by twin forces. After years of low prices at farm level there is no longer a glut of milk, volumes are down significantly.

Robert Graham, Graham’s the Family Dairy MD: Value of cream up150% in 12 months.

And added to that the reduction in value of the pound has made some imported materials dearer, although it also provides opportunities to export to the Euro zone at competitive prices. “We’ve seen the value of cream go up by 150% in the last 12 months,” he said. “Ex-farm prices have had an effect on butter pricing and that’s beginning to

come through in retail, slowly. “We’ve also been seeing some out of stocks in the larger retailers on butter.” Gordon Allan, director at meat and meat products company Malcolm Allan, said buyers who had been doing business with companies in Ireland were now seeking to buy beef in the UK, which is pushing prices up. But cattle farmers don’t have stock to meet demand and it takes three years to breed and raise more cattle. “If the price starts going up, it will continue to go up, we don’t see it stopping,” he said. At cheese firm Lactalis McLelland managing director Mark Taylor said: “The price that we have to pay for our milk has risen very significantly from a point that was unsustainably low. “We have chosen to absorb any impact this year but we’ll obviously have to address it with customers early in the new year.”

Food sales see best month October growth highest of the year to date SRC-KPMG reports FOOD sales in Scotland were up in October, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. It was the second month in a row to show year-on-year growth and it registered the highest increase in 2016 to date. Total food sales were up 0.3% on October 2015. It meant that the three-month average sales growth now stands at 0.2%. Non-food sales did less well, declining 0.6% compared to October 2015.

Food sales were up for the second month in a row says the SRCKPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium said: “Food sales continue to improve

compared to a year ago ... reflecting consumers responding to continued low grocery prices.” Paul Martin, UK head of retail for KPMG, said: “Food sales rose for the second consecutive month, helped by pumpkin and confectionary splurges for Halloween, as well as a number of in-store promotions. “With Christmas on the horizon, we may see this trend continue, as Scots prepare for the various social gatherings that the festive season entails.”

l December 2016

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news

Following the family way ALMOST four years after twin brothers Andrew and Adrian Hancock sold the Hancocks Holdings empire, the next generation in the family has launched a new wholesale confectionery business. HS Wholesale Sweets has been established by brothers David and Michael Hancock. David Hancock, joint managing director, said: “It’s what our grandparents did and it’s what our father and uncle did – it’s what we know.”

Good life gin now on sale THE world’s first social enterprise gin went on sale last month, with the profits going towards supporting disadvantaged young adults. Ginerosity is a craft gin made in partnership with Pickering’s Gin. It was served up for the first time at a launch party last month at social enterprise venue Harry’s Bar in Edinburgh. The gin is on sale online where £6 from every sale will go to good causes. And the Ginerosity team said it had completed a number of distribution deals that will see the social enterprise gin being stocked in shops and bars across the country. 10 l

Research backs wider SGF role MAGAZINES are in the habit of giving short descriptions of subjects in stories, so that new readers quickly understand the relevance of the person or group involved. Typically the Scottish Grocers Federation is said to be a retailer representative group. But for SGF chief executive Pete Cheema that doesn’t capture all the work of the modern SGF. He’s been in the job for around 18 months and now, more than ever, he reckons that the SGF is about bringing all parts of the food and drink manufacturing, supply and retail chain together – to talk and swap knowledge and ideas and to present common interests to government and others. The most recent SGF conference, held at the RBS headquarters conference centre in Edinburgh in October, was, he suggests, a good example of that. “I was really pleased that we had around 150 retailers there,” he said. The conference now has an exhibition where suppliers demonstrated everything from data services to tobacco dispensing equipment. Major companies like Camelot, Imperial Tobacco and Mars organised breakout sessions. And now all major sym-

The SGF Connect App, available on the App Store and Google Play

Scottish Grocers Federation chief executive Pete Cheema speaking at the recent SGF Conference in Edinburgh. He sees the organisation as representing suppliers, symbol groups and retailers.

bol groups operating in Scotland have taken up membership. All of that illustrates that SGF is fulfilling a wider representative and facilitating roll than ever, Cheema said. Currently he reckons the organisation is moving ahead in several strands of activity. One is communications and branding. “We never really sold ourselves as a brand,” he said. “Now with the introduction of the SGF App and of the notes that we’re sending by text, the branding is becoming predominant.” Another strand is high-profile political lobbying and representation. Last month SGF organised a Scottish Parliament exhibition and the first full meeting of the new Cross Party Group on independent retailing was held. SGF is now very actively attempting to have a member’s bill launched to give shop workers similar protection to emergency workers. “We’re working with MSP Daniel Johnson to see if we can get a

member’s bill put through.” Other attempts to achieve similar outcomes had failed, he acknowledged. But things are different largely because of another strand of SGF activity – data. Its Local Shop Report and Retail Crime Survey showed that shop workers are effectively enforcing Scottish Parliament laws. And that the problems of abuse, and indeed violence, when enforcing those laws are real and entirely unacceptable, he said. Research and data aspects of the SGF’s work are about to get a major boost thanks to the organisation’s strong connections with Stirling University’s Institute of Retail Studies. “We have secured the services of a PhD student for the next three years looking at various things, including the cumulative burden on retailers and the multiplier effect, and carrying out research into other areas that affect retailers. “It’s a massive step for the SGF,” Cheema said. “I think we are moving things on to another level.”

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RRP: For the avoidance of doubt, retailers are free at all times to determine the selling price of their products.

www.imperial-trade.co.uk

For Tobacco Traders Only ImperialTobacco - SG - linda.indd 1

17/11/2016 15:51

news

Discounters slow as Tesco jumps SPCA’s Fiona McKenzie, Co-op Peterculter’s Michael Cardiner and pig farmer Patrick Stephen with Co-op’s Irresistible Ayrshire-style Bacon.

Co-op takes the local route THE Co-operative has vowed to double its number of local suppliers. With the launch of a new small business charter, the retailer has pledged to increase the number of small suppliers it works with to 1,200 by the end of 2017. It has also launched a new 100% Scottish Ayrshire-style bacon made from specially selected pork, supplied from 12 farms located across North Aberdeenshire and Angus. The bacon, under the retailer’s Irresistible range, is cured by hand and air-dried for up to 21 days. Bearing the Specially Selected Pork approved by the Scottish SPCA label, to highlight the high welfare standard of pigs on Scottish farms, it is available in 60 Coop stores across the country priced at £2.79.

Heineken at the door HEINEKEN is partnering with on-demand delivery service Deliveroo in the launch of Brew House, a service through which shoppers will be able to order Heineken beer and cider from stores, for doorstep delivery, through the Deliveroo app. Brew House will launch across 15 of Heineken’s partner stores in London and will be rolled out nationwide by the end of the year. 12 l

Aldi and Lidl lowest growth since 2011 say researchers DISCOUNTERS Aldi and Lidl have seen their lowest level of growth in five years, according to market analysts. Kantar Worldpanel released its findings for the 12 weeks to 6 November and Nielsen published its figures for 12 weeks of trading to 5 November, with both showing the discount retailers growing at their slowest rate since 2011. Nielsen said Aldi’s year-on-year sales revenue increased 11.3% while Lidl’s increased 5.2%. Between them, they account for 11.8% of UK grocery sales, up from 11.1% a year ago. Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said: “It’s inevitable that a time would come when the discounters experienced a slowing growth rate, and three factors have combined to see this happen. “Firstly, the growth rates a year ago were particularly high due to a period of new store openings, so it’s always harder to maintain growth against that. Secondly, the supermarkets have had more

The Tesco comeback appears to be continuing. Nielsen records 2.3% growth. Kantar Worldpanel says it’s 2.2% – the best in three years.

time to alter strategies to fend off the discounters. “Finally, shoppers are still spending freely and we’ve seen a return of sustainable growth in the volume of items people are buying, helped by industry-wide price cuts, so one of the discounters’ USPs is less pronounced in shoppers’ minds.” On shoppers continuing to

spend freely, Watkins said that this was “despite the so-called Brexit impact, which in reality isn’t expected to hit consumer spending until next year.” Meanwhile, both analysts recorded good news for Tesco, which grew at its fastest rate in three years. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Tesco’s 2.2% growth is a considerable improvement on the numbers it was delivering this time last year, and indeed in 2014. “Branded sales did see an increase but most of the gains were made through its own-label products, both at the cheaper and more premium ends of the price spectrum.” Kantar said sales at Sainsbury’s declined by 0.7% over the period, contributing to a 0.3 percentage point fall in market share to 16.3%. Morrisons saw a boost in premium own-label thanks to its ‘The Best’ line, though total sales fell by 2.4%, partly because the group now has fewer stores.

Asda slump continues Third quarter sales drop almost 6% at Walmart-owned chain ASDA has reported another big drop in sales in its third quarter. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, at stores open for more than a year fell 5.8% in the three months to September. That comes on the back of an especially poor performance in the previous quarter, when sales were down by 7.5%. The latest result puts Asda well behind rivals Tesco and Morrisons, which have reported un-

derlying sales growth. The Walmart-owned supermarket chain, which only operates large outlets, has struggled to fight back against competition from the rise of discounters Lidl and Aldi. New chief executive Sean Clarke, who took up the reins in July, replacing previous boss Andy Clarke, said that prices were coming down as part of an effort to turn fortunes around.

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23/11/2016 12:13

news review 2016 – key stories from a remarkable year

Plain packs and a sugar tax hit The UK is told to break away from the European Union, the National Living Wage takes off, and minimum pricing gets the OK Natalie Lightfoot, Solo Convenience Store, Baillieston.

Voices of the new leaders DURING 2016 Scottish Grocer continued to turn the spotlight on some of the best young independent convenience retailers in our New Generation interviews. Bedford-born Natalie Lightfoot said converting her Glasgow store to Londis has proved one of the most exciting and challenging times of her life. Natalie sees Facebook as an extension of her shop’s relationship with the customers and said: “It’s quite personable and funny and I try to involve the staff and customers.” Sandeep Dhaliwal has been running his family’s store in Kilwinning Main Street for three years. He wants to make the shop bigger and said: “I’d like to get into the food business, maybe buy a few properties.” Aneeb Tariq opened his c-store in East Kilbride in 2015. In April he was considering the effects of the National Living Wage and some unwelcome developments on products and services. “The new Wispa Golds have just come in. They used to be 52g now they’re 48g, same price,” he said. “And Menzies have sent a letter saying they’re increasing their supply charge.” 16 l

IN January, Scottish Grocer reported that plans to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products had been challenged in court by the four main suppliers in the UK market. • Small shops and other businesses with low rateable values learned they were to keep their Small Business Bonus. • In February it was reported that although it would leave the ultimate decision with Scottish Court of Session, the European Court of Justice said the Scottish Government must prove its minimum unit pricing for alcohol aims could not be better achieved though other means. • Food Standards Scotland said the Scottish Government should consider a sugar tax and regulation of food and drink promotions to combat obesity. • The Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee voted against a member’s bill that would have introduced, among other things, special rules for alcohol and caffeine drinks and restrictions on alcohol advertising near schools.

• At the Scottish Grocers Federation Retail Crime Seminar in March, it was reported that 92% of retailers had been victims of shop theft, with 22% experiencing it daily and 49% reporting incidents of employee theft. • Chancellor George Osborne sprang a sugar levy on soft drinks manufacturers and importers in the budget. From April 2018 companies will have to pay a charge based on the sugar content per litre of soft drink above set thresholds. • The UK government accepted recommendations that the national minimum wage should increase by 3.7%. From the beginning of April a national living wage of £7.20 per hour was introduced for workers aged 25 and over. • In May, Scottish Grocer reported that deputy first minister John Swinney said he would consider recommendations from the SGF that shop workers be given the same legal protection as emergency workers. • New rules that followed the

EU’s revised Tobacco Products Directive and the UK government’s standardised tobacco packaging laws meant only plain packs of cigarettes and rolling tobacco, of 20 sticks or more or 30g or more, could be manufactured for the UK market. • In June, research revealed that the number of symbol stores in Britain had dropped and the number of non-affiliated c-stores had grown. The rate of growth of multiple grocer c-stores had also fallen, from 10% to 5%. • Wholesale group Bestway signed up to the SGF. • New rules governing the sale of substances previously know as “legal highs” were introduced. Affected products included solvent-based glues, anti-freeze and any kind of aerosol. Breaches of the rules carry a range of penalties including imprisonment. • In August, both the Association of Convenience Stores and the Scottish Grocers Federation warned against the implementation of government plans to in-

Over and out THIS time last year we noted that David Cameron had become the first majority Conservative prime minister for 18 years. His administration ended with his resignation in the immediate aftermath of the June referendum vote for the UK to leave the European Union. Theresa May eventually

became party leader and, as a result, prime minister after her final round party election opponent dropped out. Sterling has dropped significantly against the US dollar, the Euro and other currencies. Inflation is thought likely to increase. And the role of the Westminster parliament in any Brexit procedure is being decided in the courts.

Post Brexit vote prime minister Theresa May.

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Brains trust

Now selling from convenience stores in Scotland and across the UK. Since 20 May this year only plain pack and EUTPD2-compliant cigarettes and RYO tobacco packs can be manufactured for the UK market.

crease the National Living Wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020. • C-store Greens of Markinch took to social media to attract customers to its store by announcing that there was a Pokémon Gym by the store. • The 2016 Forecourt Report from the Association of Convenience Stores revealed that convenience sales at UK forecourts, excluding fuel, were worth over £4bn. • In September, Scottish Grocer reported that the killer of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah

had been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum sentence of 27 years. • Plain cigarette packs started hitting the shelves in UK c-stores, nine months ahead of the cut-off date for selling old style packs. • With 330 new members recruited during the last financial year, symbol group Premier had swollen its membership to more than 3300. • In October it was reported that AG Barr could shed 90 jobs out of its 1,000-strong workforce. • In November, Scottish Grocer reported that plans to imple-

ment Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol in Scotland had been given the go-ahead by the courts. At 50p per unit of alcohol, that means the minimum price of a 500ml can of standard lager will be £1, a bottle of 13.5% wine will be £5.07, and a three-litre bottle of 7.5% ABV cider will soar to £11.25. • The Scottish Parliament gave its approval to a cross-party group on independent convenience sores in Scotland. Its first full meeting was scheduled to be held in the Scottish Parliament building on 23 November.

Dennis plans presidential road trip EDINBURGH retailer Dennis Williams took over as the president who will lead the Scottish Grocers Federation into its centenary year 2018. At the SGF conference in October he announced that he planned to visit retailers in all

parts of Scotland in his twoyear stint in the role. And last month the federation announced that Mike Leonard, controller of the Day-Today symbol group at United Wholesale Scotland, is to be its new vice-president.

• At the conference of the Scottish Wholesale Association, in June, president Eddie Lynagh welcomed the new Alcohol Wholesale Registration Scheme as legislation that “ticks a lot of boxes”.

EXPERIENCE and ideas come together in the newest editorial events from Scottish Grocer. The SG Convenience Conversations are indepth discussions between experienced retailers and experts from suppliers, wholesalers and other agencies. The first conversation covered tobacco and highlighted the breadth of opinion on pricing and margin policies once plains packs effectively do away with PMPs, explored methods of informing consumers of the changes, and considered how retailers will provide one of the few ways that information on tobacco and accessories will be able to be given to adult smokers in the future.

SPAR Renfrew owner Saleem Sadiq, above, won the SG Industry Achievement Award, in association with Glen’s Vodka, in March. The award recognised his part in developing one of the leading family businesses in the industry and his store’s pioneering developments. December 2016 l

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news

Living the local dream Speciality showcases new food firms THE fine food trade exhibition Scotland’s Speciality Food Show – taking place 22-24 Jan 2017 at the SECC, Glasgow, and aimed at food retailers, foodservice operators and others – will feature several start-up and new Scottish producers. The event’s Launch Gallery is now sold out and includes from Scotland: • Persie Gin from Perthshire. A new start-up this year, the rural gin in three flavours has been created by the distiller behind the touring Gin Club. • Scottish company Dukkah Delights, launching Egyptian Dukkah for the first time in the UK. • Rawnchy from Glasgow, showcasing its handmade raw vegan desserts. • Tartanice - Scottish Ice Cream free from any artificial flavourings, colourings, preservatives and gums. • Senga’s Chilli Kitchen – makers of spicy jams, jellies, oils and hot sauces. • Sri Spice – Sri Lankan-style curry kits that are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan-friendly and can be used with meat or fish. • Cocoa Kalula – handcrafted chocolates from Ayrshire. • The Very Lovely Sauce Company, launching new flavours of its sweet sauces –all handmade in Fife. • Lessadds Syrups, homemade syrups from natural ingredients, without additives, from Dumfriesshire. • Ogilvy Spirits - Ogilvy Scottish Potato Vodka – single estate premium vodka produced in Scotland on land tended by the Jarron family for four generations. There’s more info on the show at www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

Dennis Williams, of Broadway Convenience Store (see the main story on these pages) has recently become president of the Scottish Grocers Federation. He intends to visit retailers in all parts of Scotland during his two year spell in the job. He sees the issue of commissions, for services like PayPoint and the National Lottery, as crucial and wants to lobby hard for better deals for retailers. There will be more on Dennis’s presidential priorities in forthcoming issues of Scottish Grocer. 18 l

NOBODY could say Dennis and Linda Williams aren’t successful, committed, and progressive retailers. The owners of the Premier outlet Broadway Convenience Store, in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, have a huge collection of Scottish and UK awards collected over many years that show they’ve long been up there with the best. And one thing they’ve learned over the years is: if you are given a challenge face up to it without hanging about. At some time in the future Aldi is going to open up almost next door. Fences have gone up around the site and work on demolishing existing buildings is expected to begin soon. With their minds well and truly focused, they’ve been revisiting their business and making changes, some subtle and others much more noticeable, to

The new promotional bays added in the middle of the store include space given over permanently to largesized laundry and paper products items on great deals. Customers know there will always be credible brands on at good prices and they know exactly where to find them.

Facing a major challenge when Aldi opens nearby, Dennis and Linda Williams are examining their business, stressing its local character, boosting chilled, offering everyday low prices, and making sure there’s always a great deal on laundry and loo rolls. the building, to the range, to the communications, and more. In doing so they’ve used advice from the Premier organisation, and from successful Premier and other retailers and they’ve embraced social media. “We looked at the exterior first,” Dennis said. “I’m on the Premier Development Group, 12 retailers from across the UK. We meet twice a year, have a conference call every eight weeks and we’re on WhatsApp as a group. “Two group members’ shops down south had been done in black and I thought they looked absolutely great.” The new-look exterior also features new, more modern graphics and LED message screens facing out to the street. Inside and out the store states one particular message very clearly, that it has been, and continues to be, proud to serve the local area of Oxgangs. Aldi makes much of serving Scotland, Dennis said, but with a long history of deep involvement in local good causes Broadway Convenience Store gets much closer to the action. “We want to play to our strengths and we are local, we

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Dennis & Linda Williams’ Broadway Convenience Store in Oxgangs in Edinburgh, inside and out. Dennis had been impressed by Premier stores run by leading retailers south of the border and changed the exterior to have what he reckons is a much sharper look with a black background, clear modern graphics and LED messaging screens. The interior has been brightened, more promotional bays have been added, and the message “Proudly serving Oxgangs for over 30 years” is on prominent display.

are serving our local community.” Inside there have been a number of changes carried out over a couple of recent partial refits. Some have been significant tweaks and some have been, to Dennis’s eye, subtle but important. Main aisles were altered to accommodate a new set of promotional end bays, and the pelmets that run around the tops of the walls have been changed from cream to white, making the entire shop look noticeably brighter. The chilled and fresh produce section at the rear of the store now has a free-standing promotional chiller and it hosts regular chilled food promos that the shop puts on in addition to its Premier promotions. “The thing about the chilled specials is that they drive meal purchases, all the ancillary items as well,” Linda said. “Hall’s and Booker help us with them. We deal with Hall’s Direct. “Last week we sold 107 packets of chicken breast and 79 whole chickens on promotion in the chiller. “They were half price, we did a Facebook video on it on the Monday and it was emptied the next day.” One of their staff members, tech enthusiast Mark, produces the videos and Linda’s becoming known and liked for her

sales pitches and recipe ideas, though she complains that she takes a fair bit of teasing from her daughter and her friends. The wine range has been revamped and includes several lines at everyday low prices, which encourages repeat business and customer loyalty, the couple say. But they’ve also been branching out into craft gin and gin tastings have been very popular. Also incredibly popular are everyday low-priced recognisable brands of laundry items and paper products. Customers know they will always get a good deal on large packs of loo rolls because Dennis and Linda overbuy when deals are available so they can ensure constant stock. And they’re also always positioned in the same place in the store. Interestingly they no longer follow any of the confectionery companies’ merchandising plans. There were just too many SKUs that didn’t work for them. Now they concentrate on £1 hanging bags and large bars. Volume has soared by 30% while profitability has been maintained. In a completely different aspect of the store they’re now doing very well with Hermes parcels and are keen to develop that relationship further Aldi is coming – Dennis and Linda aim to be more than ready.

The store’s chilled foods area now includes a free-standing chiller unit which highlights the regular chilled food promos. The chilled range is wider and there’s a much improved selection of meats.

Broadway Convenience Store had previously followed confectionery company merchandising plans but now it goes its own way, stressing £1 sharing bags and large chocolate bars. Volume is up and profitability has been maintained. December 2016 l

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Offering Post Office services brings in new customers so you can boost retail sales

To find out more, visit: www.runapostoffice.co.uk PostOffice - SG - linda.indd 1

22/11/2016 15:08

SG profile: Family Shopper, High Blantyre

Subs and stamps grow the family Mo Razzaq’s store in High Blantyre was one of the first in Scotland to open under the Family Shopper fascia. The store recently underwent further development to incorporate a Post Office and Subway. So how are the new ventures doing? THE definition of a ‘triple threat’ is someone in a particular field who exhibits three skills necessary to excel. In the theatre, for example, it’s someone who can sing and dance as well as act. In convenience retailing look no further than Family Shopper on Main Street, High Blantyre. It combines three key footfall drivers – convenience store, Post Office, and now, with Subway, a food-to-go franchise. For owner Mo Razzaq, it all happened quite suddenly. Talks with Subway began in earnest in February and a plan was formalised to upgrade the store with a new kitchen and an additional sales counter. Then the local sub-postmaster decided not to renew his contract and Mo was encouraged by customers to bring the Post Office under his roof. Subway opened in July, with

Running a Subway has been a new experience for retailer Mo Razzaq, of Family Shopper Blantyre. But he’s determined it will be the first choice for locals in search of a bite to eat. New signage, promos and Facebook have helped to spread the word.

the Post Office following in August. “I had a good think about the Post Office,” said Mo. “I wasn’t

The store’s exterior has been updated to highlight Subway and the Post Office.

too sure. We were already putting the Subway in and knew we would be busy with that. I wanted the extra footfall and I knew I had the customers behind me, but I was worried about customer service. I don’t like queues building up. I think it annoys people and I didn’t know how to deal with the traffic flow. Eventually, we worked it out so there are three queues – one for Subway, one for the store and one for the Post Office.” That also means three separate revenue streams to keep track of, with three sets of checks and balances.

“The biggest danger is losing track of everything. That’s when you lose money. I want to know, every day, where I stand. Our bread and butter is the Family Shopper. Subway gives a really good income, because of the margin. It will pay for itself within a year. That’s fantastic, but our bread and butter is still the store. That’s what we have to keep in mind.” Since adding the Post Office and Subway Mo said footfall had increased by two thirds. That’s been driven, in part, by some creative promotions he has devised. December 2016 l

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SG profile: Family Shopper, High Blantyre

Franchise funding was ‘vital’

THE addition of a new Subway franchise at Family Shopper in Blantyre was made possible with the assistance of HH Retail Finance, which supported the business with a “vital” £55,000 finance facility, according to owner Mo Razzaq. Henry Howard Finance originally partnered with Family Shopper Blantyre in 2013, by providing an asset finance facility for shop fittings and refrigeration. After deciding to upgrade the store with a new kitchen and an additional point of sales counter for Subway products, Mo again approached HH Retail for support. “The finance provided by the HH Retail team was vital to our expansion as the cost of the refit would have required significant upfront investment,” he said. “We were delighted that we could complete the renovation in only eight weeks.” Sarah Freeman, head of HH Retail Finance, said: “It’s been rewarding to help Mo and his team launch the store, and then to see the business grow from strength to strength. “We look forward to supporting Family Shopper with opportunities in the future.” Newport-based Henry Howard Finance has also seen growth in the last two years, following a £25m investment from Cabot Square Capital in 2014. In June 2016 Henry Howard Finance agreed a £51m asset finance facility with the British Business Bank to extend asset finance funding to a larger portfolio of small UK businesses. 22 l

Family Shopper Blantyre’s new Subway has been heavily promoted through social media. There are a variety of offers unique to the store and there’s a selection avaiable for delivery.

He offered discounts to school kids. In the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday veterans of the armed forces could buy a meal for £2.50. December, January and February will see special discounts for taxi drivers and council employees. “We think outside of the box with things like that,” said Mo. “With the taxi drivers, there’s a benefit to us because if their passenger asks to stop somewhere to eat, the first place the driver will think of is us. We’ll also have a promotion on salads in January because people will be into healthy eating.” This isn’t simple altruism. The aim behind every promotion is to encourage as many people into the store as possible. “The more customers we get into Subway, the more people will shop in Family

Shopper,” said Mo. “Some retailers just think about the money they’ll lose with a promotion, but the way I see it is I’m gaining more customers, which means my overall cash margin is going to go up.” Shop sales have not increased as much as footfall, but Mo’s working on that, making adjustments to the range and bringing in new, unusual lines to attract attention. “I’m acutely aware we’re not hitting all our customers properly. I watch where my customers are going and there are still those who come to use the Post Office but don’t buy anything in the shop. Those are the habits we need to break.” The drinks area promotional end bay nearest the Post Office counter is used to display eye-catching products like Edinburgh Gin or speciality wines with a price tag of £18.99.

Seven new staff members were hired to work behind the Subway sandwich counter. And, for periods when Subway is quiet, staff have been trained to help out on the Family Shopper side of the business.

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“It’s not what people expect from Family Shopper,” said Mo. “But we’re trying to hit a customer who’s never shopped here in their life. When you look at Lidl or Aldi, they’re known as cheap but they’ll offer the odd thing that’s quite pricey, because it’s different. We’re trying to tell people that we’re not what they expect. Come in and you’ll be constantly surprised by what we have to offer.” In 2017, Mo is aiming to boost sales further by offering online shopping and delivery, as well as introducing beacon technology to his store. “At the start I was thinking of delivering Subway only, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to go for the whole package. It makes business sense. That’s the next thing. “We’re also working with a company that wants to do direct marketing to the costumer with beacons at the door and throughout the shop. You can’t think day to day in this business. You’ve got to think 12 months ahead, and data and delivery is our focus for the next year.”

The store’s Subway counter has been enhanced by the addition of a self-service slush station. Newly-installed media display screens at the front of the store alert customers to the latest promotions. A Post Office and two new members of staff were added to the store in August.

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SG profile: Premier Arbroath Party Time

It’s time to party! A period of major celebration, socialising, gift giving and indulgence, the festive season is brimming with potential for the canny retailer. But how to make the most of the opportunity? With just a few weeks to go, Scottish Grocer approached Faisal Naseem, of drinks-specialising Premier Arbroath Party Time, for a few last-minute ideas. ESTABLISHED 21 years ago, Premier Arbroath Party Time, as the name suggests, has a reputation for good times. An off-licence with an extensive range of beers, wines and spirits, the business has survived and thrived in a fiercely competitive environment by prioritising variety, availability and deals. And the plan changes with the seasons. Faisal Naseem, who took over the running of the business from his father eight years ago, works hard to capitalise on events, holidays and trends throughout the year. And he believes Christmas is the biggest opportunity of all. So what does he have planned for this year? “This Christmas, spirits are our main focus. Champagne too, although that’s been in decline over the last 12 months,” he said. “Everyone’s been opting for prosecco, for the simple reason that it’s cheaper. It’s dryer than champagne, but I don’t think people are drinking it straight. They’re mixing it with Chambord and other liqueurs to make flavoured prosecco. “We’re really pushing spirits this year. It’s next to impossible to compete with supermarkets. They’ll sell a litre for £15. I can’t buy it for £15, so it’s often cheaper for me to buy it from the supermarkets. “In the last week I’ve spent thousands

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Faisal Naseem has stocked up on leading spirits brands for the Christmas season, and is confident they will do well, but advises offering a few premium products with a festive theme to grab the interest of customers.

of pounds in Asda. I’d be silly, as a businessman, to purchase from a cash & carry at a higher price. The only issue there is you have to make sure to keep all of your

receipts. But after Christmas, when Asda put their prices back up again we can split the difference on the stock we’ve got left. That’ll see us through to Easter or maybe

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even summer, depending on how much we’ve stocked up.” If the multiples’ litre prices are fierce convenience retailers can still get the edge on supermarkets, at least with the mainstream spirits brands, on 70cl bottles and fractionals, he said. “We’re going to mark them cheap and push them hard. It means employing the gift of the gab. Everyone’s buying gifts and when someone comes in to purchase a litre, we’ll entice them to buy a 70cl option. Famous Grouse is £15.99 PMP, we’re selling it £11.99, so it’s an attractive deal for them.” Due to the nature of his business, Faisal buys in much bigger volumes than most convenience retailers and shops around to get the most competitive deals he can, but there’s much more to think about than price, he said. “We try to offer products that you don’t see everywhere, especially at this time of year. Cairn O’Mohr wines will do a Christmas edition. They’re local and we’ve stocked them for 20 years. They supply Tesco and Asda now, which has hit sales a little bit, but they don’t stock the whole range, like we do. So when a customer wants Cairn O’Mohr, they come to us. “Edinburgh Gin is another one that has excelled for us. When it came out, not everybody had it and people from Aberdeen drove here to get it. “Products like these give us a unique selling point. If I’m selling something 20p

Scottish Grocer paid a visit to Premier Arbroath Party Time just after the Halloween decorations came down and shortly before the Christmas decorations went up. With a huge range available in a small space, Faisal makes use of multiple facings, media display screens and Facebook to draw attention to the latest deals.

“For Christmas we’re using it to advertise gift ideas like our prosecco and chocolate gift box,” he said. “We put it up on Facebook just last week and very quickly had 12 orders. “It’s the first year we’ve tried them. I just spotted it on the Booker website. The margin is really low and most retailers would think it’s not worth it. But the point is to make customers realise that we have new and interesting products.

Facebook is great at Christmas. Everyone’s on their phones, online shopping is rife. We’re going to focus a lot of our Christmas activity online. or 30p cheaper than another retailer, that might mean nothing to the average customer. But if I’ve got something that noone else has, customers will come to me, some from quite a distance.” The store is increasing its range and improving its displays for Christmas, multiplying the facings of key brands to give them more visual impact. “We went on Ebay and got some LED lighting strips to put on the shelves,” said Faisal. “The difference little things like that make is fantastic. You’re never going to get an accurate figure as to how many extra sales it’s got you, but it adds to the pleasurable experience for customers.” Key to enticing customers through the door in the first place is social media, on which Faisal is tremendously active, relying on it as his only means of advertising.

“We also do competitions, which spark a lot of interest, and fund-raising for local causes. Facebook is great at Christmas. Everybody’s on their phone, online shopping is rife. We’re going to focus a lot of our Christmas activity online. “We have three-litre bottles of Smirnoff that we’ll be raffling off every week up until January. And we’ll be getting Christmas hampers made up with shortbread, champagne and mulled wine, that people can order through the page. “Once we’ve decorated the shop we’ll put the pictures on Facebook to let everyone see. We like to do that kind of thing. It interests the customer. You’re not necessarily going to greatly increase sales with a bit of tinsel, but it shows the shopkeeper is enthusiastic and customers appreciate that.” December 2016 l

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business, property and legal

Season of giving – so take care As we approach the festive season, many companies and staff in the food and drink sector give and receive gifts. However, with strict new anti-bribery laws in place, it is important to know where to draw the line when dealing with clients and suppliers. What law governs what businesses can and can’t give to their customers? The UK Bribery Act 2010 introduced one of the most stringent anti-corruption regimes in the world. It outlaws the giving and receiving of bribes, although gifts and hospitality that are reasonable and proportionate are not prohibited. Building relationships with customers and suppliers is an important part of business and this can sometimes be done over lunch, just as a bottle of wine can be given at Christmas. So when are gifts and hospitality a beneficial part of relationship building, and when might they amount to bribery instead? When businesses entertain a customer, the aim is, of course, that by engendering good relations the customer continues to buy its goods or services. This does not make it bribery, though, which entails some impropriety. Bribery comes in where the customer decides to buy from a particular supplier not because that supplier produces the best goods or services, but because it entertained the customer so lavishly. Gifts are trickier still. While entertaining a customer has obviously beneficial purposes, in that the supplier gets to know the customer’s needs and concerns, there is no such relationship-building benefit from giving a gift which benefits the individual

by Catriona Munro Catriona Munro is a partner in the EU, Competition & Regulatory team at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP. Catriona.Munro@mms.co.uk

alone. That is why most anti-bribery compliance programmes set significantly lower limits on the value of gifts than on hospitality. How do we ensure we don’t cross the line? Companies who want to give gifts or entertain clients or suppliers should have an anti-bribery compliance programme in place, which can allow a defence to the charge of failure to prevent bribery. Companies should therefore think about how their procedures would shape up under scrutiny by a prosecutor. General principles to follow include: • Make sure that the person responsible for such matters, often a compliance officer, has a means of keeping track of the cumulative value of gifts and hospitality of-

fered to particular customers. • Always be careful as to the timing of any hospitality or gifts: how close in time are these being given to, say, an award of a contract. • When it comes to the receipt of gifts and hospitality, you also need to have your moral compass out. Are you being influenced by their receipt to choose a supplier you wouldn’t otherwise select? So, you can take your customers out for a pleasant lunch, and even offer them a bottle of wine at Christmas, as long as it is reasonable and proportionate. Prudence in both giving and receiving can make for a more peaceful festive season. ● Got a legal query? Contact john. mcnee@peeblesmedia.com and we’ll put it to an expert.

IGD to expand mentoring programme to hit 100 FOOD and grocery industry research and training charity IGD’s Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) UK is set to expand its mentoring scheme in 2017, with the aim of establishing 100 partnerships between retailers, 26 l

manufacturers, wholesalers and foodservice companies. The mentoring scheme partners ‘rising stars’ with senior professionals to help fast-track their careers and promote collaboration. Retailers mentor

manufacturers and vice-versa. Now in its fourth year, the mentoring scheme has grown from 17 partnerships in 2014 to 80 in 2016, with the goal of getting to 100 in 2017. • More info www.igd.com/mentoring

l December 2016

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17/11/2016 15:50

market news

More than lemon FLAVOURS designed to appeal to modern adult consumers are at the centre of the relaunch of R White’s lemonade. Brand owner Britvic has added Traditional Cloudy Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade and Pear & Elderflower flavours. And the range has been given a new design. Marketing director Kevin McNair said: “The relaunch will be supported by a £2m campaign centring on the new design and flavours.”

Going soft A new twist on a classic sweet is the promise from Tangerine Confectionery with its latest launch. Soft and chewy Fruit Salad Bunch of Bon Bons features an assortment of three flavours available in two pack sizes. The 140g pack is price marked at £1 and the 180g pack has an RRP of £1.29. The launch follows packing updates for its Fruit Salad classic chews and stick packs. 28 l

A love affair with bread IT’S time to make the nation fall in love with bread again according to Kingsmill brand owner Allied Bakeries, and transforming the bakery experience in store is a vital step towards achieving that goal. Quoting Nielsen Scantrack research, it says bread accounts for 54% of the bakery category but sales have declined every year since 2012. The figures show that other bakery goods have, in contrast, grown steadily over the same period. Allied says the bread category can be reawakened by reminding consumers why they love bread and providing a great range of quality breads. A spokesperson said: “Consumers feel increasingly positive about affordable treats. “Bakery can deliver simple pleasures like a bacon sand-

Time to reawaken the passion wich, toast and hot crumpets.” Consumers increasingly want to manage their families’ wellbeing through food choices, they have an appetite for new and different tastes, and that means the “better bread” category, where products offer health benefits, is becoming vital, the firm reckons. But bread overall could be seen as a victim of its own success – so popular that it has become invisible in store, it says. And to combat that it suggests retailers should move from planning bread and bakery fixtures primarily

by product function to merchandising by brand. That would, the company argues, give bread displays more impact and help retailers benefit from consumer brand loyalty. Retailers could also encourage bread shoppers to trade up by increasing the space given to premium, seeded and healthy bread. Allied says the current typical split on bread display shelves gives 30% to “better” bread and 70% to core bread lines but it would prefer retailers to split display space 50/50. In displays of other bakery products it recommends giving 36% of space to modern sandwich alternatives such as bagels, wraps and thins, with 50% for baked snacks and 14% for rolls and meal accompaniments.

Super support spend TETLEY says the £5m campaign to promote its Super Teas range is its biggest marketing drive to date for speciality teas. It includes an outdoor campaign, print advertising, social media, and TV ads. And a SuperTeas sampling campaign will circulate 700,000 samples with 50p

money-off coupons. Senior brand manager for innovation Alex Snowden said: “We have had a good level of success with our Supers range so far, so our mission now is to extend the appeal.” ‘Awesome Woman’ has been added to the Tetley characters to promote the range.

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KIngsmill has given its entire range a new look and launched the Super Toasty loaf. In October it launched Toasties, a breakfast toasting product which can be torn in two to reveal pieces of fruit inside. The firm will also change the recipes of a number of products in January 2017.

Changing how bread and other bakery products are merchandised in store is one way of encouraging consumers to trade up according to Allied Bakeries. In bread it recommends increasing the space given to higher value better breads to 50% of the available shelf space.

Allied has changed recipes for some of its Kingsmill products, repackaged the whole range and introduced a new

product it says will help remind consumers how much they love toast. Kingsmill Super Toasty has

been developed specifically for toast using a special blend of flours. Marketing director Janene

And the winners are

100% for the kids DEL Monte has launched a new product for the kids snacking category. Squeezies are made with 100% fruit and no added sugar and feature Disney characters on packs.

IN its 40 year history, Jacob’s Creek wine has notched up 7,000 awards and medals. And the brand is celebrating its successes with a special label on bottles. Head of marketing wine and Champagne at Pernod Ricard UK Toni Ingram said: “Research shows that awards are a strong motivation in the final purchasing decision at the wine fixture. “We are proud of Jacob’s Creek’s position and our new campaign is a great way of honouring the fantastic work that goes into creating the range.”

Warsap said that the Kingsmill brand will see launches of reformulated products in January 2017.

Healthier juice WATER brand Volvic has reformulated its Juiced water to reduce sugar levels in response to consumer demand for healthier drinks. It is also replacing its 6 x 50cl pack with a 12 x 50cl pack which it says represents better value for consumers. A nationwide £1m consumer marketing campaign will promote the changes next year. December 2016 l

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market news

Not just a barbecue bite DESPITE the barbecue season being long gone, consumers will still be looking to buy sausages according to the Lifetime of Meat survey by OnePoll commissioned by sausages brand Debbie&Andrew’s. The survey showed 62% of respondents eat sausages throughout the year and 29% most often had sausages in winter. Breakfast was the eating occasion at which most consumers (29%) preferred to eat sausages. Some 23% said a sausage sandwich was their favourite way to eat sausages and 14% plumped

for barbecues. Regional variations and traditions influence consumer flavour choices and the survey showed that chipolatas, cocktail sausages and hot dogs are challenging traditional sausages for

popularity. “Meat and sweet” flavours such as pork and apple, caramelised red onion and sweet chilli are among consumers’ favourites. Pork is the most popular meat for sausages among consumers, three times as

popular as second-placed beef. But Scots are more likely than consumers in the rest of the UK to choose beef or venison sausages. Of those polled, 81% said they typically buy British sausages.

Burger track of his life Yes they can DRINKS brand Hooper’s has put its Dandelion and Burdock in a can. Marketing controller Justin Horsman added that the new can meant the drink can now be enjoyed at outdoor events. Three quarters of the brand’s consumer base is aged 23 or above, the firm says.

SNACK brand Rustlers is to spend £2.5m in the next year to support a new sales growth strategy. The campaign will be led by a new TV ad aimed at 16 to 24 year olds. Marketing and business development director Adrian Lawlor said: “People who buy Rustlers rank it more favourably than loyalists of brands in our broader competitive set, but we’re going to accelerate growth by challeng-

ing and changing perceptions amongst people who have yet to try it.” The ad tracks a man’s life from boyhood to old age, showing hardships along the way and ending with him eating a Rustlers burger that cooks in just 90 seconds in the microwave and the line: ‘What A Time To Be Alive’. Lawlor said: “We’re confident our new brand proposition will result in more people trying Rustlers.”

Winning wine FANS of Lambrini are being given the chance to win £250 to spend at online fashion and home retailer Very.co.uk in a new on-pack promotion. There are 11 prizes to be won on 75cl bottles of Original, Strawberry and Cherry flavours of the drink.

Cookie on top

New sparkle

CSM Bakery Solutions has added an Oreo Doughnut to its range. It features cocoa dough, vanilla cream filling, white icing and Oreo cookie crumble on top. The thaw and serve product is available in trays of 4x12.

GLACEAU Smartwater has added a sparking variety to its range. Marketing director Aedamar Howlett said: “The sparkling water trend is surging, with consumer demand in the UK increasing by 10% in the last year.”

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Snack bar to say cheese DAIRY Crest has launched the Cathedral City Snack Bar into c-stores. The 30g cheese snack is aimed at on-the-go shoppers looking for an alternative to traditional snacks like crisps, chocolate and cereal bars. It is available in Mature and Mature Lighter variants in cases of 12 individually bar-coded bars. Head of cheese marketing Will Hemmings said: “Our research suggests that significant numbers of adults are already snacking on cheese in the home but feel that there are no products suited to their

Festive feasts needs for on-the-go snacking.” Dairy Crest refers to Kantar and IRI research and values cheese snacking product sales at £41m with volume growing

by 8% year on year. Hemmings said: “Kids products hold the lion’s share but adult snacking products are gaining traction.”

Momentous little campaign EVERYDAY little moments for a quick snack in the midst of busy lives are highlighted in a new ad campaign from Primula Cheese. Head of marketing at brand owner Kavli UK Lisa Thornton said: “We have spent the

last 12 months listening to our customers and our research shows they are busy people, always on the go.” TV presenter Mel Giedroyc, recently of Great British Bake Off, will be the voice of the campaign.

SANDWICH brand Urban Eat has launched six limited-edition varieties for Christmas. The range includes Piggies Under Blankets sub roll, Boxing Day Brunch Panini, Brie and Cranberry Wrap and the Turkey Feast sandwich in Santa’s grotto packaging. Senior brand manager Isla Owen said: “The flavours are tried and tested festive favourites and we’ve had a bit of fun with the packaging to capture the magic of Christmas.” The sandwiches range in RRP from £1.99 to £2.99.

Kids show the way CANDY brand Mentos is turning children into life coaches in its latest advertising campaign. In the TV ad children help adults to make new connections by following the simple way kids connect with each other. Senior brand manager Claire Powley said: “The

new TV campaign will reach millions of UK 16 34 year olds and with the extra digital support for the new sharing bags, the Mentos Mentors campaign really will be hard to miss. “It’s an exciting time for Mentos, with the launch of the new sharing bags

complementing our ambition to encourage consumers to connect by sharing their experiences and their confectionery.” The new Mentos sharing bags are available in Mentos Mint Mix, which combines Mint and Spearmint, and Mentos Fruit Mix varieties. December 2016 l

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market news: Easter extra

Bounce up in spring Thorntons Dessert Eggs are back for Easter 2017.

A special approach to Easter sales REPORTING that it doubled sales during Easter this year, Ferrero is bringing back its Thorntons Dessert Eggs range for 2017. The Lemon Meringue, Pecan Pie and Chocolate Fudge Brownie varieties each come with an RRP of £12. The firm is launching the Thorntons Collection Eggs range with Nut & Praline, Fruit, Toffee, Fudge & Caramel and Mint varieties at £6. And, for the first time in seven years, Thorntons will be advertised on TV in the lead up to the spring occasions season. In kids confectionery

Sarunds offers lines form artisan suppliers. 32 l

Thorntons is bringing back Butterfly Milk Egg, Cupcake Milk Egg and Football Milk Egg alongside the Gruffalo Milk Egg, Harry Hopalot Milk Egg and the Harry Hopalot White Egg. Ferrero is also bringing back Kinder Joy for Easter 2017 saying that it recorded sales in excess of £5.3m last time. • Belgian chocolate and confectionery specialist House of Sarunds is predicting a rise in sales of artisan decorated eggs for Easter 2017. Managing director Peter Martin said: “The supermarkets have captured the value end of the market with pricedriven deals that make it impossible for independent retailers to compete. “So instead of getting into a price war, our advice is to stock premium lines from artisan suppliers which are not routinely available elsewhere.” Sarunds recommends displaying Easter lines, covering all price points, immediately after Valentine’s Day.

Easter presents opportunities and the giants of chocolate reckon they know how to make the best of them. BIG selling favourites from Mars Chocolate are being released again for Easter. The Malteaster Bunny will be available in singles and in multipacks and Galaxy Golden Eggs will be back in a sharing bag and with a large egg with an RRP of £5.29. And new for 2017 is the Celebrations Gift Pack with in RRP of £4.99. Among the Mars eggs, Maltesers, M&Ms and Mars will be available in a medium size with an RRP of £3.05 and Galaxy, Ripple and Minstrels luxury eggs come with an RRP of £5.29. Mondelez International is bringing back the Cadbury Creme Egg, Caramel Egg and Dairy Milk Bunny Mousse Vanilla. And it is introducing

Galaxy Golden Eggs – coated chocolate eggs with crunchy caramel pieces.

Single-serve size treats like Mars MaltEaster and Cadbury Creme Egg should be sold all through the Easter selling season, the giant chocolate firms say. Other products, sizes and packs have parts to play in the months from January to April.

the new Cadbury Dairy Milk Egg ‘n’ Spoon Oreo. The c-store exclusive Gooless Creme Egg promotion will be running again from January. A Mondelez spokesperson said: “Shoppers are looking to buy a seasonal treat for themselves and family to build excitement at the start and throughout the season.” The single-serve lines are now worth £56m and purchases are largely impulsive, the spokesperson said: “These products provide a great opportunity to start seasonal sales off early.” Bep Dhaliwal, trade communications manger at Mars Chocolate said: “Easter is on

the radar for consumers as early as January so retailers should ensure they are stocked up from the beginning of the year, with a particular focus on treat products like Malteaster Bunny.” Other Mars advice includes placing Easter products at front of store as shoppers are more open to impulse purchases when they first arrive in store, and using promotions to trigger purchase and encourage consumers to buy more eggs. “Gifting is a major factor at Easter so retailers should ensure they stock a range of small, medium, large and luxury eggs for all ages and budgets,” Dhaliwal said.

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Golden Eggs was the No.2 small sharing bag at Easter in its 1st year!* Small sharing bags are in 11.5% growth!* £13M media investment on Galaxy® in 2017**

Stock up early from January 2017 until Easter Mars - SG - linda.indd 1

Galaxy® is a registerered trademark. ©Mars 2017. *Source: Nielsen Scantrack Easter 2016 vs. Countback to Easter 2015 +11.5% on a 5yr CAGR **MMS Nielsen Addynamix

17/11/2016 15:58

Scottish brands 2016

Innovation key to home wins SG exclusive – The most valuable Scottish brands in the Scottish food and drink market I cannot quite believe how quickly 2016 has disappeared. It’s been a busy year with many standout moments. The biggest came with Brexit; although we can’t yet realise the impact it will have on our industry, the pound has lost 15% of its value since June. The market and manufacturers are now beginning to feel the effects of this alongside ingredient and on-shelf price increases. There has also been much discussion about the effect of Brexit upon the supply of labour, as well as exports. However we mustn’t overlook the importance of the UK market to Scottish manufacturers, where sales of Scottish brands are now worth £2 billion – with many of our well-known brands, such as Borders Biscuits, Deans and Stoats, growing their presence. Until recently, consumer confidence had remained positive in Scotland – that this is now dipping may be a sign of things to come. Dealing with uncertainty in any market is challenging, but having appropriate strategies in place will be key to driving longer-term business stability for food and drink producers and retailers. And consideration should always be given to having a range strategy across price tiers in a product portfolio, as well as a multi-channel strategy. The retail landscape in Scotland continues to evolve and, whilst the growth of the dis34 l

Amanda’s overview AMANDA Brown, strategic insight director for Scotland for market research company Kantar Worldpanel – which provides the listing of the top 50 Scottish nonalcohol brands in Scotland and the Top 25 Scottish alcohol brands in Scotland – analyses the year for the leading Scottish brands in Scottish food and drink retailing.

counters is slowing, they are still growing well ahead of the market. We have also seen promotional levels drop to their lowest level since September 2010 as the major multiples adjust their strategies to attract shoppers back into stores. The grocery market in Scotland has now returned to growth and is worth just over £10bn, albeit the price of an average basket is still lower than last year. The convenience and inde-

number of transactions are undertaken on mobile devices by an increasing number of shoppers. It is also worth noting the strong performances of Iceland as well as M&S, Waitrose and The Co-op during 2016. From a health perspective, the introduction of a sugar tax has been significant, with many focusing on the impact it will have on the soft drinks industry, as has the SACN recommendation that free sugars should contribute no

Our insight does suggest that Scottish shopping baskets are getting healthier pendent sector continues to increase in importance, and whilst online continues to move forwards, it is still underperforming when compared with the rest of the UK. Yet it remains a category worth paying attention to, as a growing

more than 5% of the average shopping basket. Our insight does suggest that Scottish shopping baskets are getting healthier – but that this is driven not only by consumer choice, but also by reformulation and changing pack sizes.

This Top 50 is testament to the dynamic food and drink sector we have in Scotland. It is always great to see how well Scottish brands continue to do, and this year much success has been driven by innovation, as well as the development of new market and category opportunities. There are also many positive stories about investment, such as plans to develop new and expanded facilities, demonstrating the optimism within the industry, despite increasing competitiveness. Within the top 50, we see two new entries this year – the first from Mrs Unis at number 41 and Grants at number 45. Both have seen strong performance in the multiples with new products helping to drive success. We also see strong moves up the rankings from Genius (a new entry last year), We Hae Meat (moving up 12 places), Deans and Mrs Tilly’s – all of which have developed their ranges this year with new product and packaging at the forefront of their strategies. Looking forward to next year, we will continue to see strong performances from Scottish brands in Scotland driven by growing distribution and innovation – and this will result in further movement in the Top 50. Scottish shoppers have a strong affinity with Scottish brands, and with provenance higher on everyone’s agendas, there are still great opportunities to drive growth across all channels in the local market.

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Top 50 Scottish take-home food and drink brands in Scotland – excluding alcohol Brand

Rank 2016

Rank 2015

Irn Bru

Graham’s the Family Dairy

Malcolm Allan

Baxters

Moving Up

Rank 2016

Rank 2015

Marshalls

Scott’s

Genius

▲

Paterson’s

▲

Bells Pies and Pastry

We Hae Meat

▲

Tunnock’s

▲

Mackays

McIntosh

▲

Buchanan’s

▲

Wiseman

Mrs Tilly’s

▲

Mackie’s

▲

Lawson’s

Seriously Strong

▲

Highland Game

Simon Howie

Dean’s

Barr

Tarbert Fine Foods

Rowan Glen

Orkney Cheddar

▲

Albert Bartlett

Macsween

▲

Scotty

Big and Scottish

Mac B

▲

Mrs Unis

Border Biscuits

▲

Hamlyns of Scotland

Scottish Blend

▲

Lees

Galloway Cheddar

Scottish Favourites

Highland Spring

Grants

Mothers Pride

Family Favourites

Hall’s

Glenrath

Great Scot

Stockan’s

JG Ross

Swankies

Nairn’s

Brownings

▲

Brand

Moving Up

▲

NE ▲

▲

Source: Kantar Worldpanel take-home sales in Scotland 52 weeks to 22 May 2016 v 52 weeks to 24 May 2015. NE = New entry. December 2016 l

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Scottish brands 2016

Irn-Bru

Once again Scotland’s most valuable non-alcohol Scottish food and drink brand is Irn-Bru. It has been ringing the changes in 2016 – with a whole new look and an Xtra attraction. IRN-BRU, famously Scotland’s other national drink, has taken top position in our top 50 brands for several years and, once again, it has powered its way to the number-one spot in 2016. And Irn-Bru is also the one food and drink brand that can seriously challenge the giant beers and spirits lines on sales totals. It’s a colossal brand in its home market. It’s not unusual for Irn-Bru to have a busy year but 2016 has proved a period when several changes have occurred that affected the drink directly. After the announcement in the late summer of 2015 that brand owner AG Barr would revamp its 750ml glass bottle pack – investing to ensure the continuation of the bottle but changing from a cash-deposit returnable model to a no-return system – the changes actually took place from the New Year onwards. Spring saw a very major redesign and repackaging programme, the first new look

Jonathan Kemp, commercial director of Irn-Bru brand owner AG Barr: IrnBru Xtra taking 20% of Irn-Bru sales in mulitples and around 10% in impulse outlets. 36 l

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Irn-Bru is ending 2016 as, once again, Scotland’s most valuable Scottish non-alcohol brand in food and drink retail. And it’s doing so with a special Christmas look that marries its revamped 2016 design with a seasonal Christmas jumper theme.

for the brand for a number of years and a very major new look for Irn-Bru Sugar Free. And then the summer saw the launch of an entirely new variant, Irn-Bru Xtra – with zero sugar but produced in such a way that it tastes very similar indeed to regular IrnBru. And things have been going well for the brand, AG Barr commercial director Jonathan Kemp told Scottish Grocer. “Core Irn-Bru has had a very strong year,” he said. “New packaging came in around March and I think that really helped the brand. “There’s no doubt that it helped Irn-Bru Sugar Free sales.

“Sugar Free is now clearly part of Irn-Bru but it’s also quite distinct, a much stronger looking can.” The launch of Irn-Bru Xtra took place in August, which meant it won’t have figured in the sales totals for the year to May that Kantar Worldpanel uses to draw up the top 50. It was a launch, said Kemp, that responded to consumer demand but it was also one that recognised that the UK government has promised to introduce a soft drinks sugar levy which could raise prices of drinks like core Irn-Bru from 2018. So it’s also designed, he said, to extend the range and give retailers a way to prepare their stores for such a change.

“The EPOS data we’ve been getting out of the multiples shows Xtra at around 20% of sales. In impulse it’s around 10%. It also looks to be quite incremental. We need a bit more time and a bit more data to know just how incremental. “We know, however, that when it’s guilt-free people do consume more.” Marketing of the brand continues at pace but the nature of some activity is changing. To reach 18-24 year-olds much of the brand’s advertising has moved onto digital platforms. The firm still pays for ads, Kemp explained. But then there is also a very useful amount of sharing of ads on platforms like Facebook.

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No.1 Scottish food brand. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re wellie delighted.

And we continue to be Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no.1 dairy brand for 2016. Source: Kantar Worldpanel

Grahams - SG - linda.indd 1

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The lead agency behind their success. Helping Graham’s the Family Dairy become a household name involved everything from branding and packaging to design and advertising. And we’re delighted to have been behind Graham’s every step of the way. If you’d like the kind of award-winning, incisive thinking that gets these kinds of results, get in touch with threebrand now.

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Scottish brands 2016

Graham’s

Once again, significant growth and successful launches have seen Graham’s the Family Dairy move up the chart. It’s now Scotland’s most valuable Scottish food brand. AFTER years of steady upward movement in our top Scottish brands in Scotland chart Graham’s the Family Dairy has finally made it to the number-two spot. It means, given that soft drinks brand Irn-Bru takes the top spot, that Graham’s can now say it is number-one Scottish food brand in the Scottish market. That’s been achieved by a combination of distribution and sales growth in its core product category of liquid milk and launches, product development and sales growth for Graham’s branded lines in a widening range of other dairy categories – including butter, cheese, soft cheese, cream, yogurt and ice cream. The Graham’s range is also backed by an extensive marketing programme that includes TV and on-line activity and collaboration with experts including Great British Bake Off contestant Flora Shedden and Three Sisters Bake. An especially busy 2016 for the Bridge of Allan-based company began just after it had completed the purchase

Graham’s says it’s seeing progress with organic and Jersey milk. It is numberone block butter brand and Graham’s Spreadable sales are up.

of the Glenfield Dairy operations in Cowdenbeath at the end of last year. The brand is active in many parts of the dairy market but liquid milk remains by far the major part of the Graham’s company business. “A big part of what we do on liquid milk is brand and a lot of that is in convenience retailing in Scotland,” said managing director Robert Graham.

“But it’s not just about conventional milk. We do quite a bit around organic, and with Jersey milk our Gold Top milk line has been a star performer. We’re actually seeing a bit of traction for that in convenience, it’s going really well in Scotmid.” If milk is the bedrock of the Graham’s business butter is where the firm and the brand has seen some of its most sig-

Graham’s the Family Dairy Quark already takes around a third of a market that is growing at 50% year on year, says MD Robert Graham. The current Natural and Vanilla variants will be joined by savoury flavours in the new year.

nificant recent successes. “We’re number-one block butter and number-two BSM brand.” Robert said. “Our spreadable should overtake Anchor by the end of the year in terms of market share, becoming the numbertwo spreadable brand.” Yogurts, launched last year, are said to have done well and are distributed throughout the company’s range of customers – multiples, convenience outlets and in foodservice. Ice cream is now produced at a new facility at Glenfield. The branded range introduced new flavours last year and the firm also launched one-litre family packs. The purchase of the Glenfield facility also provides Graham’s with significant opportunities to expand its soft white cheeses business. Next year will see the introduction of a range of Graham’s branded cottage cheese. But if there’s a dairy category that gets Robert, and indeed Graham’s, especially excited it’s Quark. He sees it as having major potential for growth. It’s healthy, protein-packed, and fat-free. It already has a loyal following among slimmers, quark fans tend to be frequent purchasers, and it has wide appeal to cooks because of its wide range of culinary uses. “As a brand we have about a third of the market and the market itself is growing at 50%,” he said. “We have natural and vanilla that are in full UK distribution and we’ll launch a couple of savoury flavours in the new year.” December 2016 l

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Scottish brands 2016

Malcolm Allan

The meat product business hasn’t got any easier in the last year but Scotland’s market leader continues to grow volume by reacting quickly to new shopping trends. MEAT products, and especially traditional butcher’s lines from Scottish companies have been successful over many years in our top 50 chart. And at the head of the Scottish meat pack once again in 2016 is Larbert-based producer of traditional steak pies, and market leader in lorne sausage, Malcolm Allan. But, as director Gordon Allan explained, it isn’t all plain sailing in the meat business right now. Multiple grocers have accounted for a substantial proportion of branded meat product sales in recent times. But that market has been disrupted by competition from discounters and shifts in consumer shopping patterns. It has led to some supermarkets condensing ranges across many categories, including meat lines. Malcolm Allan has invested heavily in new facilities in the last couple of years – it’s currently two-thirds of the way through the final major project of its development programme, the building of its new bakery – and Gordon is

The Malcolm Allan classic steak pie. The company has been busy making a huge number of pies that will play a starring role on family tables all over Scotland on New Year’s Day.

glad it has chosen that route. Such investment provides crucial flexibility, he reckons. On the one hand it allows easier new product development when that’s what the market demands. On the other it also allows a responsive company to make efficiencies, change aspects of production runs, and prioritise different sizes and products at a variety of price points when value for

money is the main concern. “We’ve had four years of consistent growth,” he said. “We’ll do less this year but we’re just trying to become more efficient. “If you haven’t invested in the last two or three years and become more efficient you’re going to struggle because inflation is going to come into the market. “Pies is quite a difficult mar-

ket in Scotland. Traditionally a steak pie is lid only but we are seeing people moving to base and lid with half the meat fill to make a price.” The company is also famous for lorne sausage and that has proved to be a bright spot. “We’ve expanded the lorne range and that’s been successful. “We’ll sell the best, healthiest lorne in the country and we’ll do it in four qualities. That sounds confusing but actually there’s a market for each of them. “We’ve invested in new technology to be more efficient in packing without changing quality or pack size.” Beyond the multiples the company has been building business in the convenience channel. “We do very well with Spar, they’re very nice people to work with,” Gordon said. “We can sell you all the things that will work well in convenience. Something has worked well is skin pack steak. “We put skin pack sirloin and ribeye into Spar and that’s been hugely successful.”

According to which data you read, says Malcolm Allan director Gordon Allan, the brand accounts for between 55% and 65% of lorne sausage sales in Scotland. The company now produces lorne in four qualities. Gordon reckons it has a very good offer for convenience outlets and symbol groups as it can supply everything from sausages and pies to mince, burgers and fresh meat lines. Skin pack steaks have sold very well in Spar outlets. 40 l

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Scottish brands 2016

4 HIGHLAND-based Baxters takes number-four spot in the top 50. And that’s thanks in most part to its particularly strong position in the soup market. Christine Clarke, head of marketing for Baxters Food Group said: “Despite the challenges of the overall decline in the canned soup market, we are significantly over trading in Scotland, retaining 25.2% of total soup market share. “We have continued to fo-

cus on original recipes that appeal to the shopper looking for powerful, tasty nourishment but with the convenience of a canned soup. “We batch cook the best ingredients to deliver a product that our customers can trust, giving them the taste of Scotland they want in their lunch break. As a result, rather than cutting back on ranges, we have extended them, now offering Favourites, Vegetarian, Hearty and Chef

Selections.” Outside of soup there have been developments too. “Street food and casual dining is booming in Scotland and across the UK. Baxters recognised this to create Deli Toppers, a new range that taps into this adventurous way of eating. Deli Toppers is a step away from the traditional for Baxters - it’s pickle power for the modern dining experience,” Christine said.

Bells

BELLS, the brand covering fresh pies and pastry and owned by Bells Food Group, had a good year last year, in fact in some ways its best-ever year, is doing well again this year and is set to ring some changes in the new year, director of sales and marketing Gordon Smith told Scottish Grocer.

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Baxters

“Last year 2015-16 was our best year in terms of turnover and profitability, it was outstanding,” he said. “This year we’re on course to have an even better year, in terms of turnover certainly.” The firm – which produces pies and chilled savouries, including a full range of Scotch pies, as well as pastry for retail and foodservice, and has a cake division which includes Kirriemuir Gingerbread – has invested heavily, spending £3.6m in new machinery that doubles pastry production capacity at its Shotts plant in Lanarkshire. “The market in Scotland is actually pretty good, it’s up slightly,” Gordon said. “In terms of consumption, purchases of chilled pies in the Scottish market index at 166 versus the UK overall. So we love our pies. “According to Kantar just over 40% of the Scottish population will purchase a Bells pie and three out of four Scotch pies will be a Bells pie

Bells Scotch pies, said to be bought by 40% of Scottish consumers and to account for more than three in four purchases in their category. 2017 will see significant brand and product development, says the firm.

purchase. So, we know how to make good pies that Scottish people like to consume.” But the firm isn’t content to leave it like that, he said. There haven’t only been significant changes in terms of production, there have been developments in other areas and more are on the way. “We are becoming more and more market-driven and more and more brand-driven,” he said. “We’re putting more emphasis on product development and on the brand itself. On NPD we launched a new steak and haggis pie, which has gone down very well. We launched a deep-filled mince and onion pie and a deep-

filled chicken pie, which are also doing well. “We have a lot more planned for next year. In fact, consumers will actually see a change to the look of our brand and that will come in the early part of 2017. The consumer is looking for innovation and we know that.” For the moment around 90% of Bell’s chilled pies distribution is taken up by the major multiples but the convenience channel is something Gordon also wants to “crack”. Things like Scotch pies, especially singles and twopacks are almost food to go, ideal convenience store lines, he said. The firm has just to nail down the right logistics.

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Scottish brands 2016

Tunnock’s

SCOTLAND is a nation of biscuit lovers. And the Scottish brand that sells more than any

other in the home market, Tunnock’s, has had a good year in the top 50 Scottish brands.

Tunnock’s Teacakes part of the range produced by the biggest-selling Scottish biscuit brand in Scotland - Tunnock’s

It moved up from its number seven position last year to number six in the latest table. The Tunnock’s range includes its famous Tunnock’s teacakes as well as caramel wafers, snowballs, caramel logs and more. The firm is heavily committed to investment, especially at its factory in Uddingston in Lanarkshire, and to product development and marketing support. For example, since the arrival of commercial radio in the UK over forty years ago Tunnock’s has been backed by many radio ad campaigns. Now a new series of ads is

running across Scotland featuring the voice of Scots comedy actor Sanjeev Kohli. In the ads, one for each of Tunnock’s biggest-selling products, Sanjeev is the proudest of proud Scots, happy to tell the world that nothing made or achieved anywhere else comes anywhere close to a Tunnock’s chocolate biscuit. Fergus Loudon, Tunnock’s sales director said, “Sanjeev can make stone walls laugh. For years I’ve enjoyed his talent on TV and on stage and we were very pleased that he was happy to support the brand and our workforce.”

McIntosh ON the way up in the Scottish brands top 50 is chilled foods and ready meals brand McIntosh of Strathmore, which jumps from number eight in the 2015 table to number seven this time round. A company spokesperson for brand owner Strathmore Foods said it was proud that McIntosh of Strathmore is Scotland’s favourite ready meal brand and was delighted to see the brand move up to seventh place. “We’re the number one Scottish ready meal choice for customers,” the firm said. “With year-on-year growth, the brand is continually developing including adding new independent customers, gaining extended listings in multiple retailers and releasing its new pie product - Macaroni & Bacon Pies – using the same best-selling macaroni cheese as our ready meals but in a pie shell.” 44 l

The past year has seen the development of a number of new marketing campaigns, the Strathmore spokesperson said. McIntosh’s first Burns adverting campaign launched in January 2016 and is set to run again in January 2017, bigger than last time. McInvest – the brand’s community grant awards programme – allowed the brand to give back to local communities who have supported it through the years. McIntosh of Strathmore also took its products and message to the student market when the brand team showcased products at Glasgow’s largest student fair in September. McIntosh was present also at the BBC Good Food Show Scotland in Glasgow recently. And it will be at Taste of Grampian in June next year for the first time. The limited-edition Burns

Supper pack will launch again in multiple retailers in January, including limited-edition 340g packs of Haggis Neeps & Tatties and Vegetarian Haggis Neeps & Tatties, backed by a full advertising campaign.

And the company expects to release exciting new prodcuts in the new year – both extensions to its current range and products which will see it enter new categories for the brand.

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BOYD TUNNOCKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GRANDSON WINS THE MULL CAR RALLY SUNDAY OCTOBER 16TH 2016 CONGRATULATIONS STUART! Be a winner and sell one of the 6.5 million wafers we produce every week!

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Scottish brands 2016

Müller Wiseman

WISEMAN has been a name to reckon with in Scotland and the UK’s milk industry for many years. And milk lines that carried the Wiseman name including Black & White and the low-fat milk The One have been very important in the Scottish dairy market. Wiseman grew to have dairy and other facilities in many parts of the UK. After the company was purchased by Müller the firm was said to have 30% share of fresh milk consumption in the UK. But times have been changing once again. Since the group bought the milk interests of Dairy Crest last year the enlarged group has been restructured. Now the milk operation is known as Müller Milk & Ingredients, there’s no mention of Wiseman. The Wiseman name had al-

ready come off of packs of The One. And, while the company looks likely to expand the Black And White brand into butter and perhaps other products, it might not be a huge surprise if the Wiseman branding disappears. Müller Milk & Ingredients is a huge player in the Scottish dairy industry, of course. Earlier this year it announced a major restructuring north of the border, which sees the closure of two dairies at Aberdeen and East Kilbride and major investment to develop new facilities at Bellshill in Lanarkshire. The firm says the £15m investment, over three years, in its dairy at Bellshill is designed to create a fresh milk and ingredients centre of excellence. Work will include the commissioning of a new

cream filling hall, the development of high-speed production lines, the expansion of site processing capabilities, and investment in site infrastructure to modernise the dairy and improve efficiencies

and competitiveness. All of that should give the new dairy the capability to broaden the range of products it is able to make with milk produced by Scottish farmers, the firm says.

Mackie’s MOVING up a place this year, to number nine in the top 50 Scottish brands in Scotland chart, is ice cream, crisps and chocolate brand Mackie’s of Scotland. The company says it has bucked the trend of producers in its sector by record-

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ing a substantial increase in year-on-year sales. In ice cream and crisp sectors, the firm generated around £30m in domestic retail sales at checkouts. The Aberdeenshire family business remains number-one

take-home tub in the premium ice cream sector in Scotland and number five in the UK. Its crisp operation and collaboration with Taypack has seen growth too, achieved in part by increasing exports, most recently to Russia. Mac Mackie, one of three sibling owners and director at Mackie’s of Scotland, said: “We are delighted to see continued growth and the number of UK customers enjoying not just Mackie’s ice cream but our range of products. “We’re continuing to make progress, taking a few wee bites out of the pan-global big boys like Unilever. “And that’s heartening to see, particularly as we still produce everything we need,

from energy and packaging to the fresh cream for our ice cream, at our ancestral farm in Aberdeenshire. “We’ve also seen our new chocolate factory – which we converted from a tractor shed this year – have a big impact. Sales have increased over the year with new listings in national chains. And with a line of further new products to come we expect to be able to build on this move into the speciality chocolate sector. “It’s clear that consumers are moving away from mass produced impersonal goods and moving towards products made with care and attention, focusing on great flavours, locality and fresh ingredients,” he said.

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Scottish brands 2016

Seriously Strong IN what appears to have been a very good year indeed for Stranraer-produced Seriously Strong cheddar cheese the brand jumped four places to reach number 10 in our chart and take its place in the premier league of Scottish brands in the Scottish home market. Seriously Strong carries the McLelland name and is flagship brand of Lactalis McLelland, the Scottish operation of one of world’s biggest dairy groups, the Frenchbased Lactalis. And Mark Taylor managing director UK and Ireland at Lactalis McLelland confirmed that the last 12 months has indeed seen a very positive performance by the brand. “Seriously Strong, according to our data, is growing 4.6% in volume terms in Scotland and 4% in value,” he said. And the brand had been given some significant attention, had seen some important developments and more work is on the way, he stressed. “On block we’ve improved packaging. We’ve introduced Velcro packaging – the new generation that goes beyond easy pack and beyond zip lock, it makes the product easier to use. “We’ve relaunched sliced and grated Seriously Strong. “We’ve got a fantastically successful spreadable product. “We’re the largest spread-

Seriously Strong Squares.” Some of those products address new or developing consumer demand – for convenient cooking products for

example and for on-the-go and snacking options. “I think it’s important that we continue to innovate in whatever guise that may come – taste, provenance, occasions and convenience,” he said. One interesting development outside of Seriously Strong itself has been the launch of cheese under the McLelland brand. Now available in Morrisons the brand highlights the family-business origins of the Scottish cheese operation and highlights the historical importance of the Stranraer creamery, which has been involved in cheese making since 1899. And Seriously could see some significant further brand developments very soon. “We did a small brand re-design at the beginning of last year,” Mark said. “We’re in the process of doing something more radical.” Seriously Strong by its very name has been very focused on the extra-mature and vintage end of the market, he said. The company values all the consumers who like those characteristics of the cheese but he reckons there is an opportunity for the brand to have broader appeal. “Early next year you’ll see us come to market with some exciting changes and developments in terms of the overall brand strategy,” he said.

Simon Howie

PERTHSHIRE-based meat supplier Simon Howie is the third-placed meat and meat products firm in this year’s top 50 Scottish brands chart taking the number 11 spot. 48 l

able in the market and we’ve introduced new flavours this year, caramelised onion and a vintage product as well. “And we’ve also introduced

The company calls itself “The Scottish Butcher” and it does indeed have two traditional butcher shops in Perth as well as a foodservice supply operation.

But the heart of the company’s retail business is the range sold through virtually all of the giant supermarket chains as well as Waitrose stores and the Co-op.

The supermarket portfolio includes: Scottish dry cure bacon: a full range of link and lorne sausages; breakfast packs, haggis, black pudding, and burgers.

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Scottish brands 2016

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Barr WHILE Scottish soft drinks firm AG Barr is best known for Irn-Bru, the numberone Scottish food and drink brand in Scotland, its Barr range of carbonates is also a major Scottish brand in its home market, coming in at number 12 in the 2016 chart. Activity on the brand this year included the launch in June of its summer limitededition Mix-ups drinks. The two Mix-ups did indeed mix flavours together. Cherry and Bubblegum provided Cherry Bubble and Raspberry and Cream Soda formed Raspberry Ripple. AG Barr commercial director Jonathan Kemp said the firm was busy moving a number of the drinks from medium-sugar to low sugar levels. It sees significant demand for lower sugar drinks from the “gatekeepers”, typically mums, who buy soft drinks for families. “A lot of cans now have traffic-light labels on them and we have a very clear desire to move the SKUs that we have. “That’s going very well indeed. As technology is developing and sweeteners are developing you can actually have much better taste than previously.” 50 l

Rowan Glen

DAIRY brand Rowan Glen takes the number 13 spot in the Top 50 Scottish Food and Drink brands for 2016. Dumfries and Gallowaybased Rowan Glen produces a wide range of yogurts and low fat yogurt drinks, including 0% fat, Greek-style, and Rich and Creamy products. The Rowan Glen portfolio also includes butter, cheese, cottage cheese and crème fraîche. In one of its latest develop-

ments Rowan Glen is supplying Asda with its new variety of yogurts which are fat free,

high in protein and have zero added sugar. Rowan Glen says the Pots of Goodness range was developed in response to growing consumer demand for products that are naturally low in sugar and calories, with health benefits over and above the normal nutritional value in dairy products. There are Little Pots of Goodness (4x120g) and a ‘Big Pot of Goodness’ (450g).

Albert Bartlett POTATO specialist Albert Bartlett established itself as top Scottish fresh produce brand in Scotland in our top 50 in recent years and this year it takes the number 14 spot. However, now we have to say “fresh and frozen”, since the company negotiated a return to the frozen foods market after buying and developing facilities south of the border that mean it’s in control of all aspects of production – from its connections with growers all the way through to getting chips into retail freezer units. “We started off with Rooster Roast Potatoes, then Homestyle Chips in two sizes of bag,” said Michael Jarvis, head of marketing at Albert Barlett. “The range has continued to expand, during the year we launched Chunky Chips and we’ve launched wedges made with our Rooster potatoes. “It’s a tough market to get into but we’re really gaining some traction and we have listings in most of the big retailers.” The firm’s fresh range includes Rooster and several

other exclusive varieties including Apache, with patches of colour, and Purple Majesty, which are completely purple. The brand has continued to work with ambassadors. One promotion on Rooster potatoes featured a competition to win a trip to London and have a meal at Michel Roux Junior’s

La Gavroche restaurant. And Albert Bartlett is increasingly involved in online activity. It’s active on Facebook and has been working with some of the most popular and influential food bloggers. It sees online media as one way to reach the millennial generation.

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*Source: Consumer test conducted in July 3rd 2015, 152 people.

made in scotland and seriously tasty!

Award Winning Scottish Cheddar 62% of consumers prefer SeriouslyÂŽ Strong Extra Mature*. Visit us:

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Scottish brands 2016

Macb

THE 12 months to May 2016 showed that Scottish flavoured spring water brand Macb has continued to achieve impressive results. Now part of the Cott Beverages portfolio Macb moved from 26 two

Scotty 15 Brand SCOTTISH brands don’t come much more Scottish than Scotty Brand. In the words of head of marketing Michael Jarvis, Scotty Brand is “about any food for which Scotland can be famous”. So the portfolio carrying the Scotty dog logo now covers fresh Scottish produce in season, fresh soup, and salad bowls. It also includes Scotty Brand smoked salmon. And now it features both sweet and savoury baked goods, including traditional Scottish tea time cakes and fancies as well as a three-strong range of sausage rolls. The sausage rolls – pork, pork with a hint of haggis, and pork with a hint of black pudding – are made in Scotland from 100% Scottish pork, Michael pointed out. Most recently, the brand’s first frozen produce was introduced with the launch of Scotty Brand Chippy Chips – the first frozen chips made with Scottish

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potatoes – and Scotty Brand Garden Peas. The developing portfolio and successful efforts to expand distribution have seen Scotty Brand’s listings increased across its range of Scottish stockists including Asda, Tesco, Morrison’s, Co-op, Waitrose, Ocado, Spar, Lidl and Wholefoods. Michael Jarvis, head of marketing for Scotty Brand said: “Scotty Brand has had an excellent year with the introduction of seven new products into two new categories. “Our Scotty Brand Chippy Chips have been an exciting and welcome addition to the Scotty family and are our first introduction to the frozen food market. Alongside our Scotty Brand Garden Peas, we plan to make further listings at the start of 2017.” Michael continued: “Next year already looks to be fruitful, with the first Scotty Brand Tomatoes due to be available from April.”

years ago to 19 last year, to number 16 this time round. The brand continues to be active on social media. On Facebook and Twitter it has been running its “Find your bottle” campaign.

Border 17 LANARK-based Border Biscuits is another company and brand that has continued its steady march upwards in our top 50 chart. It made number 20 last year and now finds itself at number 17. The progress comes after what brand and innovation director Lesley Ann Gray said had been a very busy time for the brand. “Our re-brand launched to the market in January this year,” she explained. “And that was the culmination of a year’s work over 2015. “We did a lot of market analysis. We spoke to customers through focus groups. And then we briefed one of the

Border Biscuits brand and innovation director Lesley Ann Gray: rebrand aims to bring a new generation on board.

top design agencies and did a complete rebrand.” The aim was to bring a new generation on board without alienating existing purchasers, she said. While the brand is performing well ahead of the market both in the UK in general and in Scotland, where its growth of 3.6% significantly outstrips sweet biscuit category growth of 0.3%, research had identified that its consumers are relatively old. So, a major TV campaign introduced the world to its Biscuiteers, a set of characters based on actual jobs in the company, and there was activity in other consumer and trade media too. The firm was busy in product and pack development too. A snack pack with

eight wrapped two-biscuit portions of four varieties of biscuit now provides everyday treats to be slipped into handbags or lunch boxes. Its important chocolate ginger range was extended when Dark Chocolate Ginger with Orange was added to the existing Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate varieties. Next year will be the 30th anniversary of the Border Biscuits Dark Chocolate Ginger, a product that sells more than double the combined total of all its own-label competitors, Lesley said. It already takes part in the annual Ginger January event which celebrates redheads everywhere – and includes “Kiss a Ginger” day. But in 2017 the firm plans to have gingerrelated activity every month.

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The number 1 special treat biscuit in Scotland.* borderbiscuits.co.uk

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Scottish brands 2016

Scottish Blend

TEA isn’t grown in Scotland, of course, but we do have our own very special water, which, some argue, means we need some special blends. Of those teas designed to suit the water north of the border,

Scottish Blend, which is part of the same tea portfolio as PG Tips, comes out on top. The fact that it has moved up from number 21 in our top 50 chart last year to get back into the top 20 at number 18 this year

is pretty impressive, given the very competitive nature of the tea market at present. Like many other core black teas in the last year or two the brand has featured in price-competitive promotions in the last year.

Highland Spring 19

Galloway GALLOWAY Cheddar is the second of two brands from Lactalis McLelland to hold positions in the top 20 of our Scottish brands in Scotland chart. A third brand, Orkney, also makes it into the top 50 ensuring that the Stranraer-based Scottish operation of the Lactalis group is Scotland’s favourite Scottish cheese producer. Lactalis McLelland managing director, UK & Ireland Mark Taylor said Galloway was performing well in what is currently a very price-competitve cheese market north of the border. In the last 12 months volume sales of Galloway increased by 54 l

28.7% and sales value was up 17.8%. “It’s a family favourite Scottish cheddar that’s been around since 1959,” he said. “It’s gone back on TV this year. “It mainly sells in Scotland but we’re interested to see how it travels within the UK. “It has a very loyal consumer base and it represents very good value if it’s promoted.” However, that being said, the firm reckons that it is also seen as good value at everyday nonpromotional prices and as a result it needs to be on deal less often than is common in the cheese category at present.

HIGHLAND Spring Group, parent company of the Highland Spring brand, stresses the origins of its water in the unspoilt Perthshire hills. But it’s keen also to highlight its commercial performance in Scotland and further afield. The firm says it’s the leading producer of bottled water for the UK market. Quoting Kantar research, it says more households buy Highland Spring than any other bottled water and it attracts the highest amount of new shoppers into the bottled water category. And, quoting IRI research, it says that in the Scottish market Highland Spring has seen value sales increase 8.1% on last year, with its Highland Spring Still 750ml PET sports-cap single pack growing 9% over the period. Much of its marketing activity is aimed at active families, who, it says, are looking for ways to spend more time together and adopt better habits as part of healthier lifestyles. The brand developed

a marketing campaign featuring its partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association earlier this year. A TV commercial aired in April, the Tennis for Kids initiative encouraged children between the ages of five and eight to play tennis for the first time. And an on-pack promotion provided thousands of tennis kits. The firm has also been developing activity to support its sparkling water range. It argues that sparkling water is the only mixer with no calories, no sugar, no preservatives and no additives, and that it is currently benefitting from interest in, and enthusiasm for, healthy living. Carol Saunders, head of customer marketing at Highland Spring

20 Group said: “We’ve been focusing on broadening sparkling consumption by creating new serving suggestions showcasing how sparkling water can be used as a mixer in festive cocktails and mocktails. “Our research shows how important it is for us to feel good, with three times as many people saying they’d rather be happy than have lots of money. “Feeling good starts with healthy hydration. When you’re 100% hydrated, you’re much more likely to be on top of your game – mentally, physically and emotionally.”

l December 2016

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Scottish brands 2016

Hall’s 22 21 Mothers Pride In the top 50 chart this year at number 21 Mothers Pride is still very much Scotland’s biggest-selling Scottish bread brand. The tartan-wrapped bread is available in two versions, medium and thick-sliced. In a very price-conscious market Mothers Pride has been sold at low prices in some stores.

MEAT products producers do particularly well in our Kantar Worldpanel Top 50 Scottish Brands in Scotland chart and this year we’ve seen a couple of meat firms rise impressively up the table. Hall’s had moved into the top 30 last year when it finished at number 29. This year it’s up a full seven places at number 22. The brand’s sales and marketing manager David Gannon puts that down to significant work in the last year on the back of steady progress since it was bought by Scottish family business Browns Food Group in 2013. Priorities had been to take a long-sighted approach, arrange the best production system for the brand within the group it was joining, and re-establish the brand in Scottish stores where he thought it had lost some space to competitors before it had been taken into the group, he said. “We make the sausages at Prestwick, we make the haggis and black pudding over at North Berwick, we do the Hall’s cooked meats at Kirconnel. So, there is a big involvement Scotland-wide. “We’ve launched an entry level £1 range of sausages and puddings that has been part of the success over the

last 12 months. “In that is the Wee Willie Winkies brand. We sell well over 20,000 packs a week in chilled retail across the multiples, convenience formats and symbol groups. For the £1 range we also invested in new packaging, it looks really slick. “We have extended into chilled ready meals, with four lines in Asda, which are doing well. They’re our Scottish Classics – Macaroni Cheese with Ham Hough, Stovies, Mince & Tatties, and Haggis, Neeps & Tatties. We now manufacture them at our Scottish Gourmet facility in Biggar. “On cooked meats we have our Hall’s cooked meats and

we also have a Hall’s Gourmet range that’s just launched in Sainsbury’s. And in the last 12 months we’ve also had frozen launches into Tesco and Morrisons on beef lorne and olives, frozen Wee Willie Winkies and frozen Butcher’s Choice pork sausages as well.” In terms of current new product development the firm is busy, is looking especially at items for food to go, and is examining new packaging possibilities, David said. It has been developing its social media presence and has reached almost 10,000 followers. “We try to be entertaining and bring some Scottish banter to our posts,” he said.

Great Scot SCOTTISH-origin pulses brand Great Scot, now part of Whitworths, maintains a position in the 20s, down one from last year’s number 22 position. In recent years the brand extended the range beyond pulses to items like cous cous.

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Scottish brands 2016

Nairn’s 25

24 JG Ross REGIONAL and craft bakers have been making their presence felt in many stores in Scotland in recent years. And none more so than Aberdeenshire firm JG Ross which proved top local bakery brand in last year’s Top 50 Scottish brands at number 28 and which moves up impressively this year to reach the number 24 position. The company has its own range of shops in the north-east, has developed its wholesale business, and has established business partnerships with a number of Scotmid and KeyStore stores.

In recent years the firm has been actively involved in and taken awards at local, Scottish and UK events and competitions. In 2015 it arranged for local bakers to bake alongside a Great British Bake Off winner at Taste of Grampian. In 2014 it took the Customer Focus Award at the UK Baking Industry Awards. And in 2013 it won four Great Taste Awards Gold Stars for biscuits, bread and rolls in its gluten-free products range.

26 Marshalls MAINTAINING its top 30 status for another year is Marshalls, the traditional Scottish presence in the world of pasta. This year Marshalls takes the number 26 spot. The brand is very well known north of the border for its Marshalls Macaroni, which was launched in Scotland way back in 1953. But the range covers many more forms of pasta, including fusilli, penne, spirali, spaghetti, and lasagne. And it also includes semolina and farola. 58 l

There’s also a range of Marshalls products that comes complete with a sauce mix. It includes Marshalls Cheesey Macaroni, yellow curved pasta tubes,with a traditional cheese sauce mix, and Marshalls Saucy Macaroni Cheese, another pasta and cheese sauce mix combo. The Marshalls website includes a large collection of recipe ideas – from shortbread to spaghetti with beef and haggis meatballs – and a cooking blog.

BISCUITS make their way regularly into Scottish shopping baskets and the country includes several successful biscuit companies and brands. Nairn’s, in the number 25 spot in this year’s top 50 Scottish brands in Scotland, is known for its oatcakes but has also been highly active in recent years in the growing free-from market. Emma Heath, head of marketing at Nairn’s, said: “The GB oatcake market is in growth by around 6%, and this trend is reflected in the Scottish market which is up 6.5% and now worth around £6.3m. Branded oatcakes is the key driver of this growth and the Scottish market has a 70:30 split of branded versus own label, which puts Nairn’s in a very strong position as the clear market leader where our branded share is just under 40%. Data tells us that we are attracting new users and increasing frequency of purchase in Scotland, which is a great result and a trend that is mirrored nationally for us. “We launched a number of new products in the last year across both our core and gluten-free ranges. “Super Seeded Oatcake and our On the Go Fruit and Seed Oatcake were both launched in Scotland first. And performance has been very encouraging. “In gluten-free, we have recently launched two varieties of Breakfast Biscuit Breaks and a new Seeded Wholegrain Cracker, too. “We are also just starting the second year of our integrated communications programme with the ‘Nairn’s Naturally Energising’ campaign. “We have continued our partnership with Scottishbased nutritionist and broadcaster Amanda Hamilton, to show how following five sim-

ple principles can help people lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle. “The latest burst is specifically focusing on parents, offering a free six-week programme of activities, recipes and action steps to help the family get active and show that healthy living can be simple and fun. “As a Scottish-based business that is a market leader in Scotland, we do upweight our activities north of the border. This includes sampling, events and brand partnerships. “We have a number of new products to be launched. We’re specifically targeting the ‘on the go’ occasion, which is a trend that shows no sign of slowing.”

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Scottish brands 2016

Genius 28 27 Scott’s

PORRIDGE is an internationally recognised traditional Scottish staple food. And Scott’s, which chooses to use the spelling “porage”, is one of two brands specialising in the oats breakfast food to appear in the Scottish brands in Scotland top 50, this year at number 27. The Scott’s range covers everything from the very traditional to the ultra modern in porridge preparation and includes: Scott’s Original; Scott’s Old Fashioned; Scott’s-So-Easy Original; Scott’s-So-Easy Syrup Swirl; and Scott’s-SoEasy Pots. The Scott’s website takes its products beyond porridge with a series of oats recipes.

29 Paterson’s IT looks like it has been a good year for Scottish biscuit brands in the home market. Paterson’s, the maker of traditional shortbread and oatcakes, moved up a place from 30 last year to 29 this time round. Paterson’s is said to sell more shortbread than any other brand in Britain. The range includes traditional shapes as well as special lines and gift products. And the firm also produces oatcakes. 62 l

GENIUS Foods, a leader in the gluten-free foods category is also a leader in our 2016 Top 50 Scottish Brands in Scotland chart. The branded free-from bakery lines from the Edinburghbased specialist supplier jumped a huge 17 places from last year to be recorded by Kantar Worldpanel at number 28 in our list of the most valuable Scottish brands to Scottish retailers. Genius produces both branded (Genius and Livwell) and own-label gluten-free ranges and Genius commercial director Dave Shaw confirmed to Scottish Grocer that it has indeed been a very busy year for the brand. “As we reach the end of 2016, 1.3m consumers in Great Britain are now shopping the Genius brand and we have retained our status as the number-one player in freefrom bakery in Scotland, with a 26.2% MAT value share,” he said. “We have seen morning goods perform particularly well in Scotland over the past year, outperforming total UK, with Genius the driving force behind this, with a leading 61.6% share and the top three SKUs in the segment – Crumpets, Triple Seeded Rolls and Pancakes. “In March of this year Genius was the lead sponsor of the inaugural Allergy & Free From Show in Glasgow. It was such a success that we will be repeating this in March 2017. “In March this year we launched three new products – Seeded Brown Farmhouse Loaf, Plain Bagels and Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels. “The Seeded Brown Farmhouse Loaf features a wholesome blend of linseed, millet seed and golden flaxseed. With NPD driving category

Free-from brand Genius is the highest mover in the 2016 Top 50 Scottish brands in Scotland chart up 17 places to number 28

growth, the launch was designed to further boost our pre-packaged bread range, with which we currently hold a 44.1% market share. “The launch of Genius’ first ever bagels are designed to boost the brand’s breads of the world offering, a sector which has shown steady growth in free-from bakery. The delicious bagels are traditionally made, boiled before baked, and will help the brand appeal to the increasing number of consumers turning to a

gluten-free or gluten-light diet. “The Seeded Brown Farmhouse Loaf is now the largest growing NPD SKU within freefrom bakery in Scotland and the Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels are also in the top 10 largest growing NPD SKUs. “This year, Genius also became the first gluten-free brand to advertise in UK cinema, with the launch of our ‘Animals’ advertising campaign. The campaign marks the largest ever above-the-line investment in free-from bakery.”

l December 2016

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Scottish brands 2016

We hae meat

GIRVAN-based meat and meat products brand We hae meat registered one of the biggest leaps up the table in the Top 50 Scottish Brands in Scotland chart this year, jumping a huge 13 places to make it into the top 30 for the first time at number 30. That sounds impressive enough at first hearing. But it was achieved at a time when work at company headquarters actually made it difficult for owners Alex and Carlyn Paton and their team to concentrate 100% on building sales. “We had been planning a significant expansion to the operating plant here. In fact that started in April of this year and we’re due to complete this month,” Carlyn told Scottish Grocer in late November. “That has tripled the size of our operating floor.” But it meant that in the lead up to and in the period of the project the company couldn’t actually prospect for new customers. It was simply too close to full capacity. But substantial growth has nevertheless been achieved by extending distribution through its existing customer base, which includes multiples and the Co-op, and with careful development of new lines, particularly in its range of single-serve pies.

MACKAYS, the highest ranking specialist preserves brand in the top 50 once again takes 31st place in the chart. In 2016, the firm says, Mackays is the UK’s third-largest jam and marmalade brand and one of only two brands achieving growth in value and volume. In 2016 Mackays will become the largest marmalade brand in Scotland. Quoting IRI data, it says in 2015/16 sales of Mac64 l

Alex and Carlyn Paton: Their Girvan-based meat firm We hae meat jumped a huge 13 places this year to move into the top 30 despite the fact that they were delaying prospecting for new customers while a major expansion project was taking place at the site. With the extra capacity ready to come on stream they’re looking forward to a very busy Christmas and a new year when they can seek to grow existing and new business.

One, inspired by the winner of a competition on its Facebook page, was a breakfast pie complete with sausage meat, bacon and beans in a Scotch pie shell with a puff pastry top. The couple say the brand’s success is all down to standards, to quality achieved by doing things the right way. “We’re farmers who diversified into butchery through a butcher’s shop,” Carlyn said. “We’ve never lost sight of that. Even in our expanded new plant we’ll retain our original batch-making processes and production methods.”

The development has taken place with a careful eye for the local rural environment. The couple has invested very heavily in renewable energy and the firm will be introducing packaging which is better from a recycling point of view and tweaking other operational aspects such as lighting. Alex said the whole team was looking forward to a very busy Christmas with the new capacity coming on stream. The festive season has always been busy, he said, not least for sales of the company’s best-selling beef slice sausage.

“It’s because so many people are off work and they’re having a cooked breakfast,” he said. More generally throughout the We hae meat range the firm benefits from Christmas trading up, he added. After Christmas the work will begin on some product ideas they’ve had bubbling away in the background while the expansion has been going on. And they’ll be free and very keen to approach buyers with their new ideas and to speak to potential new customers throughout the retail industry, he said.

Mackays 31 kays marmalades superseded that of supermarkets’ own-label products. New product development this year included Mackays launching Berries and Cherries preserve, Raspberry and Rhubarb preserve,

and Sweet Navaleena Marmalade. Mackays UK marketing is driven by in-store promotions in multiples, as well as digital and social engagement, customer support and extensive use of product-tasting activity.

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Scottish brands 2016

Mrs Tillys 33 32 Buchanan’s SCOTS famously have a sweet tooth and when it comes to Scottish chocolates and sweets they have a favourite brand ... a brand that’s on the way up. Buchanan’s, part of the Greenock-based Golden Casket group, took the number 36 spot last year in the top Scottish brands in Scotland list but this year has jumped to number 32. The wide Buchanan’s range features 42 flavours and includes toffees, fudges,chocolate-covered lines and award-winning products like Buchanan’s Italian Creams, Russian Creams and Buttered Brazils. The sweets are available in a number of packs and formats including traditional jars and a very successful range of hanging bags. Golden Casket includes several important confectionery brands that serve several parts of the retail market. It’s £onepounders hanging bags, featuring more than 70 lines, serve independent and symbol stores while Buchanan’s bags sell mainly through multiples. The firm also has the very successful range of Millions sweets. 66 l

SCOTTISH confectionery firm Mrs Tilly’s is another company tasting success in the 2016 top 50 Scottish brands. It moves up five places to number 33. The Larbert-based company says 2016 has been a significant year during which it secured a number of new listings with major retailers and carried out a £1.6m investment programme designed to strengthen its capabilities – and facilitate growth in domestic and international markets. Managing director Blair Paterson said: “This has been an exciting year for the business, sales have remained strong and we have successfully expanded our customer base in a variety of new channels.”

Blair Paterson, managing director Mrs Tilly’s.

Dean’s

UP six places on last year to reach number 36 in the Kantar Worldpanel chart of Scotland’s most valuable Scottish brands, Dean’s is one of a number of Scottish-based biscuit brands that have done well this year. And it has been an important year for the brand in marketing and production terms. The company completed work on a major brand refresh, and new packs began rolling out to store shelves across the country. As the changes took effect Bill Dean, managing director

at Dean’s and son of founder Helen said: “Having carried out extensive consumer research last year, the feedback was that although strongly representing our traditional recipes and family values, our pack designs were not effec-

tively communicating the deliciousness of our products. “This is something that the refreshed branding has certainly addressed, with stunning new on-pack photography clearly illustrating Dean’s unique melt in the mouth, hand-baked proposition.” During 2016 Dean’s has been investing in new warehousing near its manufacturing site in Huntly. The developments mean the firm gains significantly more production space, giving it scope to increase new product development activity.

Orkney 38 MOVING up three places in the top 50 to number 38 is the third of cheese company Lactalis McLelland’s trio of charting brands. Orkney Cheddar, a specially protected PGI status food, uses milk from all 19 of Orkney’s dairy farms. Mark Taylor, MD UK and Ireland of Lactalis McLelland, said sales were doing well in

Scotland, up 18.2% in volume and 18.9% in value. “It’s very heavily supported by Morrisons who have listed the product,” he said. “And it’s now listed by Brakes in foodservice. “It has some unique cooking properties which I think export markets really like,” he said. “For example, it’s extremely popular in France.”

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Scottish brands 2016

41 39 Macsween MOVING up one place on last year, Edinburgh-based haggis and charcuterie specialist Macsween is this year’s number 39 Scottish brand in the Scottish market. And managing director James Macsween said the last year had been positive for the brand. “As Scotland’s leading producer of haggis, we produce award-winning products handcrafted to unique family recipes, using only the finest ingredients,” he said. “We remain the brand leader in our category with 40.3% share in the Scottish market. Our business has seen a 30% sales increase in the past year. “Consumers look to Macsween for a diverse range of products that they can eat all year round. Our range of products now includes black pudding, vegetarian haggis and burgers, as well as haggis meatballs. “This November we expanded our meat portfolio to include a range of sausages available in three flavours – Pork & Haggis, Smoky Pork & Beer and Bacon & Black Pudding. “We will be making an exciting announcement before the end of the year, with our latest product due to launch just in time for Burn’s, and have ambitious growth plans for the future.” 68 l

Mrs Unis

BRINGING a touch of spice to the Top 50 Scottish brands in Scotland, the Mrs Unis range of Asian foods is the highest new entry at number 41. Sales and marketing manager Kenny Laughlan said Mrs Unis is now a key player in the supply of Asian products in Scotland and sales are growing year on year in a very competitive market. “We are established in all 61 Asda stores in Scotland, in all of Sainsbury’s Scottish stores, and in September of this year 2016 we started suppling 51 Morrison’s stores in Scotland.” The brand is also available to independents through a number of wholesalers.

OATS brand Hamlyns of Scotland has continued its progress in Kantar Worldpanel’s listing of the top 50 Scottish brands in the home market, rising from number 46 last year to 42 this time round. And the brand team says the progress reflects continuing development of the portfolio. It says it has seen significant increases in sales of its instant porridge pots and sachets, as porridge is increasingly consumed on the go and in the office for breakfast, lunch, and as a snack. The firm reckons porridge pots are also very popular with walkers, cyclists and outdoor

Mrs Unis Chicken Pakora Strips

“We produce quality Asian products, using the best authentic ingredients, all our products are hand-finished and ready to eat,” Kenny said. “We launched four new naan breads – Chicken Tikka, Keema, Metha Naan, and Cheese and Coriander – into Asda in

Hamlyns 42 enthusiasts, truck drivers and site workers who are looking for an energy boost in the middle of an active day.

Grants

THE second new entry in the top 50 in 2016 is the range of canned foods from Ayrshirebased Grants. The main line in the range is

June. We launched six SKUs into Morrisons in September and increased our store portfolio with Sainsbury’s in 2016. “We’re preparing for a very busy period leading up to Hogmanay. Looking at last year’s sales we can see our pakora lines are key for the celebrations over the New Year period.” The brand’s Chicken Strip Pakora is, he suggested, the most expensive pakora on the market. And the fact that it is the firm’s best selling pakora shows that consumers are looking for high quality products and that Mrs Unis is providing them, he argued. One of the company’s pakora lines has a very distinct seasonal sales performance. “Our Haggis Pakora sells pretty well through the year but at Burns Night, sales soar,” Kenny said.

Grants Haggis which is available in several sizes of tin. But there are many other options including a traditional range that includes dishes like

And Hamlyns Oatmeal sales are increasing as oatmeal features in an increasing number of recipes, it says.

Stewed Steak, Irish Stew, and Beef Curry. The gourmet range includes Pulled Pork and Pulled Beef. The company website stresses that its products are made from fresh, local produce. Grants was named Ambient Manufacturer of the Year 2015 in the Food Awards Scotland.

l December 2016

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Scottish brands 2016 - alcohol

Set to toast a new dynamic Craft and gin bring fresh look to life at the top THE alcoholic drinks sector in Scotland is thriving and whilst whisky brands still dominate this Top 25, we are seeing the dynamics changing to represent the growing popularity of other spirits and beer. Similar to food and non-alcoholic drinks, the market remains challenging and the outlook is a bit more uncertain than it was six months ago. Encouragingly, however, there is strong optimism from those working in this part of the industry. Alcoholic drinks are an important category for the convenience and independent market, accounting for 25% of total sales, with continuing growth helped by an increasing number of shoppers. During 2016 we have seen a growing emphasis placed upon the craft beer sector with many retailers giving Scottish brands an increased presence and focus. Success has seen new and different types of investment being used to help drive expansion plans for companies including Innis & Gunn and BrewDog, as well as collaborative sales and marketing approaches to help microbreweries work with big retailers through The Craft Beer Clan. We’ve also seen the launch of Brewgooder – the first beer label to donate 100% of its profits to clean water projects – and witnessed Tennent’s include gluten and calorie information on its packaging. For the first time since 2013, Scotch whisky exports are growing again, alongside a slowdown in sales in Scotland. It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays 70 l

Amanda Brown, strategic insight director for Scotland, Kantar Worldpanel, looks at Scottish drinks brands in Scottish stores. Whisky brands maintain many top 25 spots but other spirits and craft beers are making their presence felt.

out next year, and also to see how the ruling around minimum pricing will impact the industry and retail environment in Scotland. Gin is also on the rise – with new entry Hendrick’s the first gin to ever appear in the Top 25. New product launches have been critical to driving the success of the gin market as more shoppers buy into this innovative sector. 2016 also saw the launch of the Scottish Gin Map, which highlighted the growing number of Scottish brands. BrewDog is the other new entry, driving sales predominately in the multiples but also in the independent and discount sectors. And we see Innis & Gunn move up an impressive six places.

Top 50 Scottish take-home alcohol brands in Scotland Rank 2016

Rank 2015

Glen’s Vodka

Tennent’s

Famous Grouse

Whyte & Mackay

Bell’s

Grant’s

McEwan’s

Aberlour

▲

Drambuie

▲

Teacher’s

▲

Glenlivet

Glen Moray

Isle of Jura

Highland Park

▲

Glenmorangie

▲

Glenfiddich

Innis & Gunn

▲

Laphroaig

▲

Belhaven

▲

Glayva

Hendrick’s

OVD

Black/Smoky Grouse

Brewdog

Johnnie Walker

Brand

Moving Up

▲

▲ NE

Source: Kantar Worldpanel take-home sales in Scotland 52 weeks to 22 May 2016 v 52 weeks to 24 May 2015. NE = New entry.

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Scottish brands 2016 - alcohol

Top drinks brands stay a step ahead THANKS to Scotland’s large whisky industry it has more home-produced alcohol brands among its best-sellers than many other countries. But of course the biggest single Scottish alcohol brand in Scotland isn’t a whisky, it’s a vodka, Glen’s, and the number two is the beer brand Tennent’s. And while there’s little movement in the top-most positions of our 2016 chart of the best-selling Scottish drinks brands there are very interesting developments elsewhere in the table where

craft beers and Scottish produced gin are beginning to register home-market sales. Remaining at the top of the tree in 2016 is Glen’s vodka. And, while the Kantar figures measure the performance of the various Scottish brands in terms of take-home sales for all outlets and channels, Glen’s brand owner Loch Lomond realises that convenience outlets are crucial to its success. Managing director UK and Ireland Karl Yates said: “The convenience channel is the heart and soul of the brand and most of our activity is focussed here in Scotland by working very closely with our wholesale and symbol group partners. “One example of activity has been

and predictable margins. “We have been able to do this by keeping our own costs low and our ways of working simple. Unlike many other brands, we do not have the expense and therefore no need to pass the cost of huge advertising budgets or large sales forces on to our customers. “The new bottle and label designs have also been a tremendous success with everyone and has definitely helped the brand image. “Our other core activity has been to develop tailored investment programmes with our key partners to help them sell more of the SKUs

The new bottle and label designs have also been a tremendous success with everyone and has definitely helped the brand image.

Huge sellers but still developing: Glen’s vodka the most valuable Scottish drinks brand in Scottish take-home now includes two variants and is available in many sizes and in PMPs. 72 l

the introduction of PMPs across our convenience bottle sizes. These have been a resounding success. We have managed to offer the shopper consistent great value at low prices, while providing the trade with healthy

that deliver the greatest profit for them. This means smaller pack sizes which fit very well with the convenience shopper. “We are also becoming more proactive with symbol groups and helping them to understand the profit potential of stocking all the Glen’s sizes.” The Glen’s portfolio now also includes the premium line

Number two brand Tennent’s latest innovation is Gluten free T.

Glen’s Platinum vodka and the firm says it is doing well. “Our customer and consumer base is building steadily. We are already bigger in Scotland than many nationally advertised brands,” Yates said. “We have launched in 70cl and a £12.99 PMP. We launched with a multimedia campaign in the Greater Glasgow area. Very much a new experience for the Glen’s brand.” At number two in the drinks top 25 Scottish brands is Scotland’s own giant beer

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These top selling ales will boost your bottom line. Champion is Scotland’s best-selling premium bottled ale and McEwan’s Export is the nation’s favourite canned ale.*

so stay ahead of demand and stock up now.

*Source: IRI, MAT to 8th October 2016, Single unit value sales.

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Scottish brands 2016 - alcohol

Tennent’s. By far the biggest seller in the portfolio of course is Tennent’s Lager and it has continued with its major marketing tieins to music with T in the Park and sport with online activity around five-a-side football. Its latest product development is its new glutenfree beer Gluten Free T, though at launch the brand’s offtrade distribution was limited to Tesco stores. Next biggest Scottish beer brand range is the number 7 McEwan’s, which includes the biggest-selling take-home ale McEwan’s Export and an increasing range of traditional and craft ales. Brand spokesperson Paul Hutchinson said: “In the year that we celebrate McEwan’s 160th birthday, it’s clear the brand remains synonymous with beer in Scotland. Not only is McEwan’s the biggest ale brand in Scotland, but our individual beers stand out too with McEwan’s Export as the number one canned ale and McEwan’s Champion the number one bottled ale in Scotland. Our heritage beers remain true to our roots, and our newer beers, like our McEwan’s IPA have helped us to adapt to attract drinkers with evolving tastes,

McEwan’s is the best selling ale brand and has an expanding range which now includes McEwan’s Export, Champion Ale, IPA and others. 74 l

A clutch of blended whisky brands continue to take high positions in the Kantar top 25 chart.

Aberlour 12 years old – one of an Aberlour range that Kantar records as best selling take-home malt.

By far the biggest seller in the Tennent’s portfolio of course is Tennent’s Lager and it has continued with its major marketing tie-ins to music with T in the Park. contributing to the ongoing success of McEwan’s. “Our recently launched McEwan’s Champion Whisky Edition brings together Scotland’s favourite bottled ale with Scotland’s world famous spirit, creating a beer that proves how longestablished beers can also remain creative and offer something new and different for the wide ranging tastes of the modern beer drinker.” Elsewhere in the chart the major whiskies retain their strong positions with The Famous Grouse listed by Kantar as the best selling take-home Scotch in Scotland with Whyte & Mackay and Bell’s following and Grant’s moving up the chart as whisky number four. The repackaged Black Grouse, now Smoky, edged up a couple of places in the table too at number 23. Malt whisky range Aberlour

jumps into the top 10 rising six places to reach number eight, leapfrogging Jura and Glenlivet to become topselling take-home malt whisky in Scotland in the Kantar figures. Which other Scottish drinks brands did well in the top 25? Well Drambuie jumped four places to move into the top 10. And there were moves up the table also for Teacher’s, Glen Moray, Highland Park, Glenmorangie and Laphroaig as well as Belhaven. The recent rise and rise of craft beer was shown by Innis

& Gunn, a new entry last year, moving up seven places. And Brewdog entered the chart at number 24. And number one Glen’s is no longer the only Scottish white spirt in the table. Hendrick’s gin moved in at number 24. Two craft beer ranges made significant progress in the chart. Innis & Gunn, a new entry last year was up seven places this year and Brewdog moved into the top 25 Scottish alcohol brands in Scottish take home.

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is Scotland’s McEwan’s Champion and McEwan’s best-selling bottled ale favourite Export is the nation’s canned ale.* from the huge Stock up now and benefit ng beers. demand for these best-selli *Source : Kantar World Panel, Value Sales, Take Home Non-Alcohol Brands, MAT to 22.05.16, Total Scotland

Scotland, 2016, Major Multiples *Source; IRI – 18 June Single unit value sales.

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Christmas and New Year drinks

Festive finery Having a ball WARNINKS aims to show the versatility of the Snowball with its new Christmas campaign. The brand has four new ways to serve the basic cocktail (advocaat, lemonade and lime), suitable for a range of festive occasions. The campaign will run until 24 December, supported by out-of-home and radio advertising, and branded Christmas jumpers will be provided to off-trade and on-trade customers.

Soft sell

IN the lead up to and through the Christmas period, shoppers can look for items to create a special occasion in their homes – and many companies are aiming to provide it for them. • A touch of sparkle has been added to Stella Artois this Christmas with limited edition packaging across its small and large packs. The festive new design highlights the Belgian beer’s star logo, with golden stars set against a white backdrop containing the Stella Artois cartouche and logo. • Christmas provides a great opportunity to encourage shoppers to trade up to premium brands, according to Heineken, so retailers should ensure they stock premium options, keep them chilled and use point-of sale materials. “Consumers are always look-

ing to try new varieties and flavours and with a wealth of NPD launched in 2016, retailers can offer their customers new products including Blind Pig and the striking new Bulmers redesign,” said category and trade marketing director - off trade, Craig Clarkson, who also recommended Amstel, Ciderie Stassen and Birra Moretti, now available in cans. • As well as world beers, products crafted in Scotland

are likely to be great sellers over Christmas and Hogmanay, says Brookfield Drinks. “Scottish products are renowned globally for being high in quality and Kestrel lagers are no exception,” a spokesperson said. “We recommended that iconic brands with a loyal consumer base such as Kestrel should be merchandised in the beer chiller, at eye level to maximise brand standout.”

Sing out the Bell’s

ALONG with water and energy drinks, adult soft drinks was one of only three sectors in the soft drinks category to increase sales last Christmas, says SHS Drinks, whose portfolio includes Shloer. “These performances clearly illustrate how convenience store retailers need to adapt their soft drinks range to cope with changes in consumer purchasing patterns at this time of year,” said Jo Sykes, marketing director – alcohol and soft drinks.

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Premium lager brands Stella Artois and Birra Moretti are both sporting new styles in time for the holiday season.

DIAGEO is rolling out a new £1.5m marketing campaign for Bell’s whisky in the run up to the festive season. On screens now and featuring comedian Matt Berry, the two new TV adverts offer a tongue-in-cheek take on early Christmas adverts, and they’re backed up by outof-home and digital activity. Lauren Popplewell, Bell’s brand manager at Diageo GB, said: “By capturing the playful personality behind Bell’s whisky, the new campaign will build further brand love for

Bell’s, giving consumers an additional reason to purchase when choosing a blended Scotch whisky. “Bell’s already has significant stand out on shelf, and with this ATL driving excitement and mass awareness in the run up to Christmas, it is a must stock for retailers looking to capitalise on its sales opportunity.” • Following on from the Famous Grouse’s ‘Perfectly Balanced’ TV ad in October, Maxxium has launched

a second ad in time for Christmas. Johna Penman, marketing controller for The Famous Grouse, said: “We are determined to come out on top and win this Christmas. We’re confident this new campaign will deliver.”

The new ad for Famous Grouse.

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paper products

Cleaning up a classic Intertissue’s Thirst Pockets – backed by TV activity.

Keeping it smart and simple THE paper products category includes many bulky products but retailers don’t need huge shelf space to get the best returns, says Regina and Plenty brand owner Intertissue. It sees a smart and simple range, concentrating on two or three items of each product type, as the most effective way to generate sales. An Intertissue spokesperson said: “Consumers want quality for money, so products that clearly communicate this are preferred, remembering that

Regina Blitz: driving category sales, claims Intertissue. 78 l

the key to making the most of the paper category is keeping a customer for the second purchase. “You need a solid quality entry level product with enough value for money that it encourages them to return for repeat purchasing. “You also need attractive tradeup offerings which can help grow basket spends and turnovers”. The firm sees a developing market for premium paper products. Key areas of growth for the total kitchen towel market over the last few years have come mainly from Regina Blitz and also from the Plenty brand, the company said. “Regina Blitz is one of the higher valueper-pack products, but due to the consumers getting excellent value for money, the Regina Blitz single-roll and two-roll products are the market number one and two biggest value-driving SKUs over the past year.”

THE toilet tissue market is one of the UK’s largest grocery categories, worth over £1bn, says the team behind brand leader Andrex, which holds a 37% market share in Scotland as measured by Nielsen Scantrack figures for the 12 months to early October this year. Andrex argues that as shopper behaviour has evolved to include more frequent shopping trips, toilet tissue can be a planned or an impulse purchase. The firm says a ShopperVista Convenience Channel Focus study in 2015 found that brand name is the most important attribute that convenience store shoppers use to see a product as being higher quality than others. And that, it argues, is reflected in the fact that branded toilet tissue sells well in convenience stores. It cites Nielsen Scantrack Total Impulse research showing branded products taking more than 90% of impulse outlets’ sales of toilet tissue, with Andrex accounting for 47% of those convenience channel sales. But it argues that toilet tissue has been, and in some cases continues to be, marketed as a commodity product. Andrex aims to reposition the category, moving it from being

Latest ads in the Andrex campaign mark the launch of its Andrex Classic Clean product. Andrex goes into the homes of the children who featured earlier in the campaign to introduce the product to their families.

thought of by consumers as a household essential to being seen as an intimate care product. Recently, Andrex improved its Classic White variant and renamed it Andrex Classic Clean.

Classic Clean has a thicker, embossed base-sheet with Andrex branding. It says Classic Clean is the biggest product change for Andrex in 60 years and follows years of work, major research, and huge investment.

Classic Clean: Andrex’s upgrade to its previous Classic White line has a thicker, embossed basesheet with Andrex branding. The firm says Classic Clean is the biggest product change for Andrex in 60 years.

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2017 forecast: highlighting likely market trends

With just over a year till the implementation of the UK government’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy, termed the ‘sugar tax’ by the media, soft drinks brands are already scrambling to reformulate and innovate. That’s likely to continue in the coming year.

Sweet fortunes

THE ‘sugar tax’, the special levy that manufacturers will pay on sugar-containing soft drinks, is due to come into force in April 2018. Under the new rules soft drinks companies will pay a charge for drinks that contain added sugar and have a total sugar content of five grams or more per 100 millilitres. And there’s a higher charge for added-sugar soft drinks that contain eight grams or more per 100 millilitres. Pure fruit juices won’t be taxed as they don’t contain added sugar. And drinks with high milk content are exempted. It’s important to realise that the charge is levied on the soft drinks companies, it isn’t a consumer tax. So soft drinks companies will have to decide whether they raise prices to their immediate customers, and then wholesalers and retailers will have to decide if they will pass on any increases down the chain to consumers. But we expect 2017 to see product development activity from soft drinks brands looking to mitigate the impact of the new levy. Many companies have already reacted with new products and reformulations. AG Barr is one example, it launched its sugar-free Irn-Bru Xtra as well as Rubicon Light & Fruity – a juice drinks range with 50% less sugar – in August. The developments were in the pipeline but the process that saw the products come to market was accelerated. Coca-Cola Enterprises has invested

Soft drinks companies have cut sugar in their products by 13.6% since 2012, says BSDA.

£30m across five years in reformulation and new product development, prioritising developments of lower and no-sugar drinks such as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Monster Energy Ultra. Amy Burgess, trade communications manager at Coca-Cola European Part-

ners said: “Since 2005, we have launched 27 new drinks with reduced sugar or calories and everything we sell has a lower or no-sugar option.” Meanwhile, Vimto made its No Added Sugar portfolio the heart of a nationwide trade marketing initiative in 2016, including POS, in-depot displays, coupons at till point, and online advertising. Ed Jones, Vimto’s customer and trade marketing manager, said: “We know that as many as 54% of consumers are looking for low-sugar in their purchases, however no-added-sugar only accounts for 21% of the soft drinks range stocked in impulse. This goes to show the scale of the opportunity, and we recommend that retailers and wholesalers stock up on Vimto No Added Sugar original and Vimto Remix to meet the growing demand.” The British Soft Drinks Association claims its members have cut sugar in their products by 13.6% since 2012. But the industry might have to do more. According to research by Mintel, 53% of carbonated soft drink users say that they would either cut back on or stop drinking sugary carbonated soft drinks if the price were to increase by 24p per litre as a result of the sugar tax. Rather than contest the legislation, manufacturers will, Mintel predicts, downsize can and bottle sizes and reformulate to reduce or remove sugar. Small soft drinks companies look to be

New range to meet craving for grazing SPAR Brand has launched a fruit, nuts and seeds snacking range to help meet consumer demand for healthier snacks in 2017. The range brings shoppers a choice of dried fruit, unsalted nuts and mixes containing seeds, nuts and chocolate. There are eight ‘eat now’ PMP £1 bags, and five larger 80 l

re-sealable bags (RRP £2), for grazing and sharing, in the range. Susan Darbyshire, Spar UK brand director, said: “With the current trend for health and wellness, consumers are looking for alternative snacking options that meet their needs for a healthy, tasty treat.

“As a result, the category is growing at 12% year on year, making this the perfect time for the Spar brand fruit, nuts and seeds snacks to launch. “With all the bestsellers in the category available in the range, packaged in re-sealable bags, we’re confident this range will be a success for our retailers,”

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No and low sugar variants have been at the heart of campaigns from major soft drinks companies including AG Barr, Vimto and Coca-Cola European Partners in 2016.

Brands across Europe will consider this as a portent for a need to reformulate not just carbonated soft drinks but also other high-sugar products in other sectors. excused the charge, so could we see some specialist and ‘traditional’ soft drinks providers spring up? “With smaller producers exempt, this may provide opportunities for craft soft drinks producers to flourish – as

Fritz-Kola and Ali Cola have done in Germany – albeit in a market without a soft drinks sugar tax,” the report said. And it expects 100% fruit or milk-based drinks, which will not be affected by the levy, to become price competitive.

The Mintel report suggests not just the soft drinks industry should be concerned. It said: “Beyond the UK, more and more governments are concerned about obesity’s financial hit on public health services. Whilst they will be taking an interest in the levy’s effectiveness in health, more brands across Europe will consider this as a portent for a need to reformulate not just carbonated soft drinks but also other high-sugar products in other sectors.” Some products have already been reformulated, such as breakfast cereals Frosties and Honey Monster Puffs, both of which saw their sugar content reduced in 2016, but Mintel suggests baked goods and confectionery could also come under pressure. “The potential challenge for manufacturers of cakes, biscuits, sweets and ice cream would be far greater, because sugar is fundamental not just to taste but also to providing texture and bulk,” it said. So 2017 may well see an unprecedented number of no and low-sugar variants launched across categories including soft drinks, confectionery, bakery and more.

Looking sweet ONE company aiming to bring a sugar alternative into the mainstream in 2017 is SugaVida. The UK’s exclusive supplier of organic Palmyra Jaggery (a crystallised, unrefined nectar alternative to sugar) SugaVida is relaunching with a new look and positioning itself as a healthy sugar substitute to trust. SugaVida can be added to tea, coffee, smoothies, protein shakes and water as a supplement.

Forecast for the forecourts WHILE much of the focus in 2017 will remain in-store, independent fuel dealers should not lose sight of the forecourt itself, according to Paul Yates, Jet’s territory manager for Scotland. He advised updating pumps to the latest models, which can include media screen advertising or pay at the pump, adding dedicated parking areas, and making use of unused space to drive footfall from new initiatives such as the latest 24 hour self-service laundromat machines. “Coffee will continue to be a vital forecourt offering, but operators can help drive forecourt footfall by introducing a strong food-to-go offering to sit alongside it,” he said. “Demand for food-to-

go in the convenience sector has grown 33% year on year and forecourts are ideally placed to capitalise on this trend. This is why earlier this year Jet teamed up with eXpresso Plus and Country Choice for the launch of ‘Snack on the Go’, a combined coffee and food-to-go offering. “By offering as many non-food services under one roof as they can, operators will not only drive forecourt footfall, but also generate additional revenue streams. “My final prediction for 2017 is that more independent operators will embrace the benefits offered through brand partnerships. Big convenience brands drive forecourt footfall, with branded

Paul Yates, Jet territory manager – Scotland.

stores attracting over 30% more return visits. We’ve seen this at first-hand where Jet sites have taken advantage of our partnership with Spar UK, strengthening their offering by making their forecourts ‘fuel and feed’ destinations.” December 2016 l

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JET

SG_DPS_1116_Layout 1 21/11/2016 14:33 Page 1

Forecourts of the future

JET’s network of 50 independent Scottish forecourts is going from strength to strength. Spanning from Newton Stewart in the south to Thurso in the north, and from Kyle of Lochalsh in the west to Duns in the east, JET now supplies more fuel to Scottish independent dealers than any of its main competitors.* Here are just a few of the reasons why Scottish dealers are making JET their fuel supplier of choice.

* Source – Catalist latest release. Dealer site volume only, excluding sites owned by UK nationwide site operators – Certas Energy, Cooperative, Euro Garages, MOTO, Motor Fuels Group, MRH, Roadchef, and Waitrose

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Security of supply Security of supply is a major concern for all independent dealers, but thanks to the backing of our parent company, Phillips 66, JET is Scotland’s only branded dealer supplier with its own UK refinery – offering security and flexibility. Last year, in Scotland, we supplied 1 billion litres of fuel to our independent dealers, other oil companies, hypermarkets, major resellers, and commercial and marine customers.

A forward-thinking food-to-go solution Food-to-go is a vital component of today’s modern forecourt. To help dealers capitalise on this trend and drive forecourt footfall, JET has teamed up with eXpresso PLUS to introduce ‘Snack on the Go’, an exclusive coffee and food-to-go concept. eXpresso PLUS’ partners include well-known consumer brands such as Lavazza, PG Tips, Nescafé and Country Choice. As well as a Lavazza coffee machine, dealers can choose to add display areas for hot food, sweet treats and chilled items. The units are flexible, enabling dealers to adapt them to suit their location and customer demographic both now and in the future.

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An award-winning standards and service programme At JET we aspire to have the best independent forecourts in the country. Our ‘Proud to be Jet’ standards and service programme rewards dealers who deliver high standards and offer excellent customer facilities. Forecourts are assessed, benchmarked and measured based on annual compliance audits and other brand-related criteria. JET dealers work towards obtaining ‘Diamonds’, which can be spent on a range of items to further improve their forecourts for the future, such as LED under-canopy lighting, a full car wash valet or annual electrical testing.

Big brand alliances

JET is 100% committed to the future of fuel retailing in Scotland and the continued expansion of our dealer network. Get in touch to find out why more and more independent Scottish dealers are making JET their fuel supplier of choice.

T 01926 404 333 E connect2jet@p66.com JourneywithJET @JETPetrol

Our partnership with SPAR UK gives JET dealers the opportunity to transform their sites into convenience destinations which maximise on both fuel and food sales.

Retail support Our dealers benefit from a compelling range of retail support services and partner offers, helping to drive forecourt footfall and customer loyalty to our sites.

22/11/2016 11:07

2017 forecast

Daniel Reeds, MD at health food marketing company New Chapter Marketing, considers what’s behind the high protein trend.

Muscling in Wild west snacking PREDICTING strong growth for meat snacking in 2017, jerky and biltong producer the Meatsnacks Group has launched a dedicated trade website for independent and symbol convenience stores. Meatsnacks Shop allows independent traders to order direct without having to set up credit facilities, meaning they can order, pay for and receive their order within a few days direct from the manufacturer. One new product it will be making available in 2017 is salmon jerky, under its Wild West Deli brand. As part of the development it has acquired the Spey Valley Smokehouse in Grantown on Spey, which is undergoing significant investment to scale up its on-site production capabilities. James Newitt, managing director of Meatsnacks Group Ltd said: “We’re really excited to be adding salmon jerky to our portfolio and we think it’s the perfect addition to our Wild West Deli range. We have been looking to produce the product since 2012 when we perfected the recipe and what better place than Grantown on Spey, the home of salmon fishing. The acquisition offers us a great opportunity to continue to diversify our offering and tap into a wider market.” 84 l

ONCE a niche sector dominated by powders and shakes, the global high protein products market is expected to reach £8bn in 2017, according to Euromonitor. But what’s behind its rapid growth? According to Daniel Reeds, MD at health food marketing company New Chapter Marketing, it’s a culmination of factors. “Some of the traditional brands in the arena, such as Maxi-Muscle, began advertising their products to a more mainstream audience about a decade ago, producing products that were less aggressively targeted at the bodybuilding world and more

foods high in protein can also help with weight loss, due to the fact they keep you feeling fuller for longer. As a consequence, it’s now believed more high protein food products are bought for slimming purposes than for muscle building.” Innovation has also been shown by brands in the sector, finding creative ways to meet the public’s growing appetite for high protein products. “Dr Zak’s are a great example of a company that have helped bridge the gap between the traditional protein market and the new one,” said Reeds. “The range started out

focused on everyday gym users,” he said. “Alongside this, gym membership has gone through the roof and, more recently, social media has helped create a new means to put fitness products in front of a mass market.” Perhaps the biggest driver behind the growth, he said, has been a better understanding, from both the public and brands themselves, of the nutritional science behind protein supplementation. “Previously protein was just associated with muscle growth, but now people are beginning to understand that

as bread and pasta fortified with protein. The popularity of these products has led to the brand now including bagels and a range of flavoured peanut butters, which allow people to up the protein levels of their everyday meals without even realising. “Even the more traditional protein products, such as protein bars, are seeing a face lift, with brands like The Primal Pantry launching an alternative protein bar range, combining the growing demand for raw natural ingredients with a high protein on-the-go snack. “Moving forward it doesn’t look likely the demand for high

Daniel Reeds, New Chapter Marketing.

protein foods is going to slow, as they form an integral part of the functional foods market, predicted to reach a global value of $54bn by the end of next year (according to Leather head Food Research). “Furthermore, if sales of red meat continue to slide, amid concerns over environmental and health factors, we may yet see an even greater demand for products fortified with extra plant-based protein, as people begin to rely on these kinds of foods not as a means to get bigger muscles or even slimmer waists, but as a way of getting their everyday nutritional needs from non-animal sources.”

Dr Zak’s peanut butter range.

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2017 forecast

Moving towards moderation RECENT world events may have many reaching for a bottle, but Dan Harwood, head of wine education for Eisberg, reckons alcohol-free products could be the stars of 2017. “Sales of alcohol-free wine are booming in the UK and we believe that this trend will continue as shoppers move towards a more moderate way of drinking,” he said. “The cat-

egory has seen an increase of 39% value and brand leader Eisberg is leading the way with a sales increase of 40%. “We have seen rapid growth as both men and women choose to re-evaluate the amount they drink, with people looking to switch to an alcohol free wine like Eisberg to feel included in the social occasion – whether that’s a glass

of wine after the kids are in bed, as a means to cut down as part of active lifestyle or as the designated driver for a night out. “We will also be expanding on this year’s success of the Tour of Britain yellow jersey sponsorship to reach a wider audience of consumers who are likely to be receptive to alcohol-free messaging.”

Popping off

E-cigarettes manufacturer Blu was one of the first to unveil its EUTPD2 compliant range, pictured above.

Prepare for the new generation UNDER UK law that follows the EU directive known as EUTPD2, from 20 May 2017 it will be illegal in the UK to sell noncompliant vaping products. And it will be the retailer’s responsibility to ensure they aren’t selling products that don’t comply with the new rules. “The vaping market is booming with a retail sales value of £168m and showing an 18% increase on sales last year but it’s going to see a lot of change over the next six to nine months as the next stage of the EUTPD2 legislation comes into effect,” said Jennifer Roberts, VP of customer marketing at Blu. “One of the key aims of the EUTPD2 leg86 l

islation is to improve product quality and safety across the market, which is good news for the market and for consumers. However, with the onus now on retailers to ensure they only stock and sell fully compliant products by May next year, it’s crucial they start planning now to ensure they have enough time to sell through old stock ahead of the deadline.” Blu recently announced the launch of its next generation of EUTPD2 compliant vaping products, including the Blu Pro Kit, Clearomiser and range of e-liquids. A six-page retailer guide has also been produced, offering key advice on the vaping market and forthcoming legislation.

POPCORN is now the fastest growing sub-category within crisps, nuts and snacks, growing 34% year on year, according to IRI. Butterkist is looking to make sure the growth continues in 2017, by introducing new flavours and styles. “We have heavily invested in qualitative and quantitative research to get closer to our consumers and gain a greater understanding of the role of popcorn and Butterkist in their lives,” said senior brand manager Anjna Mistry. “This rich insight will come to life in our exciting plans for 2017.” • Moving away from traditional popcorn for the first time, snack brand Propercorn is hoping to shake up the snack aisle with the launch of Crunch Corn, a half-popped allergen-free alternative to nuts that aims to provide a similar crunch. Company co-founder Ryan Kohn said: “It’s not traditional popcorn and it’s certainly not a bag of un-popped kernels – it’s a moreish, nut-like crunch that’s totally new. We wanted to create a snack which packed as much of a punch in texture as it did in taste, and we can’t wait to share our discovery with everyone.”

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