Scotty Brand reaps rewards of bumper crop

Food producer Scotty Brand is toasting a bumper crop of results on the back of its best-ever year for berries and flourishing sales of frozen chips.

Carys Melton with Scotty Brand strawberries. The food producer doubled its production of berries this year. Picture: Julie Howden

The family-run Coatbridge company, which traces its roots back to 1948, has been boosted by a number of key contract wins during 2019 which have helped the firm consolidate its Scottish presence and expand across the rest of the UK.

This includes a UK-wide trial of its berries in Asda, which saw sales of more than 200 tonnes – the equivalent of 16 double decker buses.

The company doubled the amount of strawberries and raspberries grown this year as demand for homegrown produce increased.

Scotty Brand also inked a £250,000-a-year deal with Asda to stock its frozen Chippy Chips product in 30 Scottish stores.

Frozen produce now accounts for almost 10 per cent of turnover at Scotty Brand, whose range has expanded beyond fresh produce to include prepared vegetables, fresh soup, sausage rolls, smoked salmon, coleslaw and chilled potato salad.

The business also supplies a chilled mashed potato, produced by its partner Albert Bartlett.

Richard Allison, general manager of Scotty Brand, said: “Thanks to the success of our berries and frozen chips, it’s been another excellent year for Scotty Brand. We’re also very proud that our frozen potatoes and fresh soup are ranked in the top ten in the UK.

“I’d like to say thank you and happy New Year to our family of Scottish farmers who grow all this amazing produce.”

Scotty Brand, founded by Albert Bartlett and now run by his grandson Ronnie Bartlett, is currently the number 11 Scottish food and non-alcoholic drink brand in Scotland, according to Kantar’s 2019 Scottish Brands Footprint.

Its stockists include Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-op, Waitrose, Aldi, Spar and Lidl.