Honest oats with an honest price

Hamlyns of Scotland brings its offering to the table

We’ve been around for a long time so everyone knows our history, but they also know our quality, value and provenance. We do a lot of work with stores, both individual stores and groups of stores to get that message across. We want our products to be readily available and readily seen at the point of sale, and are delighted to work with stores to make that happen.

What does Hamlyns offer to retailers and customers?

What’s in your range?

We are over 110 years old, and we’ve been producing the same range of products and many more since those early days. Oats are one of the healthiest breakfast cereals around, but in this climate they’re also one of the best because they are very good value for money. Health wise there are no added sugars and no added salt. What you see in the field is what you get in your packet.

Can I ask what sets Hamlyns apart from your competitors? And what do you think gives you that extra edge?

We’ve been around for over 110 years and we’ve honed our skills over that period. We’ve got tradition, we’ve got quality, and we’ve got value for money. I always say that we are a good honest Scottish product, at a good Scottish honest price.

How important is the Scottish convenience channel to your brand in particular?

Vital. We’re Scottish, the Hamlyns brand is made in Scotland and most of it is sold in Scotland, across all the retail channels. Convenience is key to serving local communities, and the further you move away from the main cities the more these communities rely on convenience stores. Every time I go up to Thurso or Ullapool I’m delighted to see our products across the convenience store shelves. It’s exactly what we want to see.

Do you think that provenance of your brand as well really plays into what consumers are looking for at the moment?

As well as looking at price, I think consumers are thinking about where their food is coming from. We’ve had energy shortages from the war in Ukraine and we began to think about the problems of bringing things in from abroad. I think the next big thing will be a greater consumer awareness of where their food is coming from. Just like energy, food is a necessity, and local home grown food is both locally available with less transport miles, and of a high quality.

What support can you offer to retailers with the Hamlyns range?

How have you ensured you’ve got strong availability in Scotland for the Hamlyns range? We recognise that availability across the supply chain is one of the biggest issues in Scottish convenience at the moment. We’re Scottish through and through. We buy Scottish oats because they are the best. We mill in Scotland. We work with Scottish retailers to ensure that the consumers get the best product, locally produced at a great quality and value – bar none!

What sustainability credentials does your brand have to talk about?

We have always been sustainable, and are improving with age. We buy locally. We don’t import produce from around the world. We are powered by a wind turbine on site, a bit like the old “windy miller” but a lot bigger. We are based in the North East of Scotland and it tends to be a windy part of the world – just right for producing energy from wind. In the last couple of years especially this has served us exceedingly well. As part of the oat milling process we remove the outer husk around the oats before we mill the inner part for human consumption. This outer husk is made in to a pellet which can either go to feed animals or to be burned for making into electricity. That’s not presently done on our site but hopefully soon we will be able to make both our own steam and electricity from the husk. We’ve also recently looked at our packaging. We have invested in new equipment and are planning to move it all away from polythene in to paper bags. We are presently in laminated bags that uses oil to make and can’t be recycled. In the very near future they will all be paper bags. Another step on the sustainability journey.

How can retailers get in touch with Hamlyns if they’re interested to get it in store?

There are a number of ways to get in touch. You can go through our sales agency, JFK, or you can go through the wholesalers. We deal with all the Scottish wholesalers.