Everything you need to know about Border biscuits

From their factory in Lanarkshire, Border have been making scrumptious biscuits for over 30 years.

Border Biscuits has been on the go for more than 30 years. Picture: Peter Devlin

With an emphasis on creative recipes and top-class ingredients, they have gone from strength to strength over the past few decades, constantly expanding their company and improving their products.

In 1984, John Cunningham began Border with just four family recipes, a small factory in Lanark, and four helpers.

His theory was that he should prioritise the quality of the biscuits, and if they were good enough, then they would grow in popularity by word of mouth recommendations.

This is exactly what happened. In 1987 the company had enough profits to expand their range of biscuits. T

hey introduced new recipes, such as the much-praised dark chocolate ginger, which flew off the shelves.

By 1996 they had to move to a new Lanarkshire factory to keep up with demand for their biscuits. This factory is Border’s current home, and it is still growing to this day.

By 2013, Border were producing over 300,000 biscuits a week, destined to be eaten all over the world.

They also launched their Big Baking Bonanza competition, to search for the best biscuit recipe in Britain.

The deserving winner was Kirsty, with her chocolate, peanut and fudge cookies.

The 2014 winner was Emma, who devised a recipe for lemon meringue moreish biscuits.

Biscuits made to her recipe were then sold in Asda. She was followed by Rory in 2015, whose chocolate orange thins came top, and were also sold in the supermarket.

2015 also saw Border’s dark chocolate ginger become the nation’s favourite chocolate ginger biscuit.

Border have produced more than 20 million dark chocolate gingers, using around 155 tonnes of chocolate over the years to make this famous recipe.

Last year, in 2016, Border jazzed up their products with new stylish packaging and launched a new range of cookies.

The firm’s Viennese whirl also won the award for Best Biscuit in Scotland at the Scottish Baker of the Year Awards, and their milk chocolate gingers won a Great Taste award.

The company’s policy of “biscuits before profit” is clearly a big part of their success, as they believe that fantastic biscuits are more important for business than profit-driven management.

Now, Border have around 40 different recipes, but, remember, it all began with only four: the Viennese whirl, ginger crunch, cherry shortcake, and oat crumble.

New biscuit recipes are being created all the time, in the specialist Development Kitchen.

To make sure that quality and flavour are being maintained, five members of staff carry out regular taste tests.

Cunningham’s philosophy of “good ingredients, good recipe, good people”, is a central part of the Border company, which proudly proclaims its basis in family.

Border Biscuits can now be found in cupboards and tins all over the country, and even further afield.

Although dark chocolate gingers are hugely popular, every member of staff at Border has their own favourite, which could be any one of the 40 biscuits produced since 1984.

Although the firm’s ‘biscuits before profit’ policy is unusual, it clearly works, as Border hasn’t finished growing yet.

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