Business Scotland: McCaskie's refuses major supermarket offer and chooses independent route to beef up sales

A family-owned Scottish butchers has refused an offer from a major supermarket and instead opted to supply direct to its own consumer based and the independent sector.

McCaskie’s from Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde, has decided to supply and support small to medium size like-minded businesses in an effort to support the independent sector and boost sales.

The move comes despite an approach to stock McCaskie’s products in a major multiple’s stores throughout Scotland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As part of the independent push, McCaskie’s is now supplying many butchers shops in Scotland and England as well as retailers and restaurants with its products.

McCaskie’s has invested more than £1.5million in the business in recent years, including a state-of-the-art production unit opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2018.McCaskie’s has invested more than £1.5million in the business in recent years, including a state-of-the-art production unit opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2018.
McCaskie’s has invested more than £1.5million in the business in recent years, including a state-of-the-art production unit opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2018.

Nigel Ovens, shop owner and butcher, said: “Consumers go to independent butchers for high quality produce and service, so while a tie-up with the supermarket would have brought our products to a wider market, we are delighted to hold firm with our philosophy and instead drive sales through the independent sector”

Read More
Covid Scotland: Year-and-half wait and Nike conference 'cover up' among worst SN...

The potential deal with the supermarket would have seen McCaskie’s supply their haggis, black pudding, bacon and pies to many stores.

McCaskie’s has invested more than £1.5million in the business in recent years.

This includes a state-of-the-art production unit opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2018. The unit now produces up to 1000 lbs of black pudding and up to 2,000 lbs of haggis per week.

The new production unit behind the main store in Wemyss Bay has allowed McCaskie's to significantly increase production by around 300% versus before, whilst still making all products in small batches.

The butcher has also used the new production unit to drive e-commerce sales via its website – these have risen by 60% over the last two years.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Related topics:

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.