Ice cream model strengthens worldwide foothold

Scottish staple sees export gross sales enhance by greater than a 3rd

MACKIE’S of Scotland scooped up a formidable 37% enhance in export gross sales for its luxurious ice cream over the past monetary yr.

The family-run enterprise noticed its highest ever worldwide gross sales in 2022/23 with export income hitting £2.8m, up from £2.05m in 2021/22.

At present, the Aberdeenshire farm exports to 13 international locations all over the world together with the USA and the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai.

Nevertheless, Mackie’s enjoys its strongest exhibiting in east Asia: with Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan amounting to 95% of its complete export gross sales.

Taiwan sits atop the remaining, taking the title as Mackie’s largest abroad buyer. Final yr, Shoppers in Taiwan alone bought over a million of Mackie’s Conventional tubs, which if laid in a straight line would stretch from Mackie’s Aberdeenshire farm to Edinburgh.

Managing Director of Mackie’s of Scotland, Stuart Widespread, mentioned: “Since we first began exporting to a handful of household run ice cream parlours in Seoul in 2002 for the FIFA World Cup hosted in South Korea, we have now seen regular development in abroad demand for our merchandise.”

“The standard and consistency of Scottish foods and drinks merchandise usually has helped create a “Made in Scotland” model in and of itself, which has discovered sturdy help from shoppers internationally.

“This most up-to-date burst in export gross sales comes as international locations and worldwide provide chains start to get better from the pandemic, and shoppers are desperate to style and take a look at meals they haven’t essentially had entry to for a while.

“To bolster this, Mackie’s have widened the scope of merchandise which we provide to our abroad prospects – offering them with new flavours like our Honeycomb, which they may not have of their nationwide markets.

“This has resulted in a terrific uplift in gross sales worldwide and our partnerships with our worldwide distributors has by no means been stronger. We’re optimistic that this development will proceed through the years to return, as Mackie’s and Scottish foods and drinks each additional cement their place in worldwide shopper’s minds as easy, constant and of the very best high quality.”

The family-run model’s largest vendor overseas is its Conventional ice cream tub, adopted by its Honeycomb flavoured ice cream.

Stuart added: “Our ambition is at all times to develop, whereas nonetheless delivering high quality to our shoppers, and we’re engaged on creating new relationships with distributors to succeed in extra prospects all over the world.

“We now have set ourselves difficult targets for the upcoming yr to keep up this upward trajectory and are wanting ahead to sharing Mackie’s with extra ice cream lovers all over the world.”

The exports success follows a flurry of latest listings inside the UK with the model securing its Honeycomb ice cream tubs in 245 Waitrose shops in a deal anticipated to be price round £500,000 in retail gross sales.

Mackie’s has additionally secured a renewal in its UK-wide Sainsbury’s itemizing, with its Honeycomb flavoured ice cream being bought in over 500 shops round England and Wales.

This, mixed with its determination to withstand value will increase, has led to Mackie’s including half one million prospects throughout England, Wales, and Northern Eire to its important present share in Scotland, the place it occupies over 20% of the ice cream market.

In addition to being the most important independently owned ice cream producer within the UK, Mackie’s is among the UK’s prime ice cream manufacturers, with its one litre Conventional tub among the many best-selling premium ice cream merchandise within the UK.

The corporate produces all its ice cream utilizing recent milk and cream from the dairy herd at its fifth-generation household farm, Westertown, close to Inverurie in Aberdeenshire.

To search out out extra about Mackie’s of Scotland, please go to: www.mackies.co.uk