Global appetite for haggis and whisky on the up

ON THE day the world celebrates the birth of the National Bard Robert Burns with haggis and whisky, new figures reveal that exports of both products have soared in the past four years, generating billions of pounds for the economy.

The MacSween Haggis factory. Picture: TSPL

Haggis exports in 2013 were worth £1.037 million, up from £683,000 in 2011, a rise of 51 per cent.

In the past four years the UK has exported £4.85m of haggis to 28 countries

Ireland, France, Spain and Hong Kong are the biggest buyers of the foodstuff outside the UK.

FOLLOW US

Twitter | Facebook | Google+

-----------------------------------------

Subscribe to our DAILY NEWSLETTER (requires registration)

-----------------------------------------

SCOTSMAN TABLET AND MOBILE APPS

iPhone | iPad | Android | Kindle

According to the figures from HMRC, Scotch whisky is also enjoying rising exports, with a 24 per cent increase between 2010 and 2013.

There were 1.3 billion bottles exported in 2013, worth £4.37 billion and enough to fill Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Swimming Pool 145 times.

Exports of Scotch whisky are worth £135 a second to our growing economy and, along with haggis, contributed to a record year for the UK food chain which generated £103bn in 2013 and now employs one in eight people.

The UK Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “Robert Burns called haggis the ‘great chieftain o’ the pudding-race’ and it’s wonderful that more than 200 years later, this delicious, wholesome dish is now being appreciated around the world.”

Scottish haggis brand Macsween sells more than a million units of haggis over the Burns period.

• Live: Burns Night whisky tasting