Recession bites sales of Nairn's oatcakes

NAIRN'S Oatcakes has reported a 12.1 per cent fall in operating profit to £2.3 million on sales down by 2.6 per cent to £14.3m for the year to 6 June, 2009.

Ken McGarrity, the finance director, blamed shoppers trading down from premium products and shopping in discount stores that rarely stock Edinburgh-based Nairn's range.

"Purchasing habits are slowly returning to their pre-recession patterns," he said.

The company remains confident about job levels, and investment in new products and improvements to the range are on track to return the business to growth in the next few years.