Stahly's Chicago haggis a turnip for the books

Published on Tuesday 20 January 2004 00:00

GLENROTHES food producer Stahly Quality Foods has taken the unusual step of starting production of tinned haggis from a manufacturing facility in Chicago.

Company founder Ken Stahly said he decided to expand the firm’s global production capabilities in a bid to overcome the problems faced when exporting products to the United States.

The US production facility currently produces two Stahly products - traditional Scottish haggis and vegetarian haggis - but Mr Stahly said he hoped to expand its output to include other products such as whisky-flavoured haggis and clootie dumpling. He said: "We chose to base our US operation in Chicago because of its strong links with the meat industry and its geographical location is an ideal gateway to the US and Canadian marketplace.

"Our working relationship with the Americans is excellent even though there is the odd translation quirk, such as the fact that, in the US swede is known as rutabaga."

He added: "As there are currently more Scots overseas than there are in Scotland, I think the market is definitely big enough to make haggis a success in the US. There’s a growing trend there at the moment to embrace everything Scottish, and that includes our home-grown cuisine."

Stahly Quality Foods received assistance from Business Gateway International Trade Fife and Scottish Development International to find a suitable production partner in the US.

Business Gateway advisor Alistair Gibb said: "We’ve helped the company mainly through marketing support, and I’ve personally been delighted to watch their plans take flight. This is an ideal example of a company which has risen to the challenges of the global market and taken the bold step of manufacturing overseas."