The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mackie’s sets sights on Super Bowl
ONE OF North America’s major food distributors has selected Carse of Gowrie crisp brand Mackie’s for special promotion during the run-up to the Super Bowl.
UNFI Canada Grocery Central chose the Errol-based snack as one of two it will push ahead of the biggest event in the American Football calendar in February.
The decision means newly-repackaged Mackie’s will be displayed prominently across supermarkets in eastern Canada in the expectation of picking up sales in advance of one of the biggest snack-buying weekends of the year.
It comes just weeks after UNFI and Quebecoise distributor CTS Food Brokers added Mackie’s products to their lists, broadening the company’s exposure in a market which is set to deliver revenues of £250,000 during its first year.
An agreement with Horizon Distributors has already helped to develop markets in the west, while major retailers Whole Foods Market and Planet Organics Markets have introduced the crisps to their customers across the country.
Mackie’s commercial director Ronnie Wilson hailed Canada’s “excellent” response to his firm’s products, and the “exciting” Super Bowl promotion.
“In the last few weeks — following a very successful exhibition at CHFA East, a huge natural food show in Toronto — UNFI selected Mackie’s as one of the two snacking brands featured in its promotional slots for the coveted American Football Super Bowl in early February 2014,” he said.
“This is a very exciting opportunity for us to continue to build our brand in the Canadian market.”
Efforts to expand in Canada, one of 20 export markets entered by the joint venture since its formation in 2009, have been assisted by broker Linda Bottier.
She said she had been drawn to the brand after spotting “two men in kilts” at a trade show early last year.
“Right from the start Canada has embraced Mackie’s Crisps,” Ms Bottier said.
“With the brand’s Scottish farming roots and natural pledge, they have been exactly what the market here needs.
“It’s been an absolute joy working with such a fabulous brand and the fantastic Mackie’s Crisps team, who are so completely committed to supporting this market.”
The crisps will now be exported in packaging specially designed for the Canadian market — bilingual, featuring a prominent saltire, and highlighting the products’ non-GMO credentials. The first of the new packs will be on shelves in time for Burns’ Night celebrations.
Managing director George Taylor said the firm was confident about the brand’s future in Canada.
“We expect our Canadian sales to exceed £250,000 within our first year of trading, and we firmly believe that continued investment in our brand and our commitment to targeted packaging will result in our sales doubling in 2014,” he said.
The crisp business was formed following a tie-up between Aberdeenshire ice cream firm Mackie’s of Scotland and thirdgeneration potato farmers the Taylor family. Production moved to a purposebuilt £1 million factory at Errol Brickworks earlier this summer.
The news is just the latest Tayside link to gridiron’s greatest set-piece event — Dundee artificial yarn manufacturer Low & Bonar provided the playing surface for the 2006 instalment, when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 at Ford Field, Detroit.