Earning a crust: festive sales leap for Lanarkshire pie-maker

Shotts-based Bells Food Group, which bills itself as Scotland's number one pie brand, is expecting to see sales soar by up to 40 per cent over the festive period, with an additional 100,000-plus pies being produced.

Gordon Smith, sales and marketing director at Bells Food Group, and Yvonne McArthur, Asda trading assistant Scotland local. Picture: Ian Georgeson.

If all of its steak pies sold across Scotland over Christmas and Hogmanay – exceeding 50,000 – were stacked end on end vertically, they would be more than 14 times the height of Ben Nevis. It comes as the firm launches its Premium Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie, stocked in all Asda stores in Scotland. Bells’ headquarters now accommodates over 200 local staff.

Gordon Smith, sales and marketing director at Bells Food Group, said: “We’re delighted to see another Bells Steak Pie launch on Asda shelves. “Hogmanay in Scotland is a special and traditional time of year, and as a family business we are very proud that the Bells values of quality, excellence and passion are enjoyed by so many local Scots as we see in the New Year.”

Heather Turnbull, Asda’s regional buying manager for Scotland, said: “We are very proud to support local suppliers and in doing so offer our shoppers great tasting regional products at affordable prices, particularly around key trading times such as Christmas and Hogmanay.”