English catching up with Scots in Irn-Bru consumption

• AG Barr said yesterday that successful marketing was again the key to rising sales. Picture: Complimentary

However, new sales figures for Irn-Bru show that the English are finally catching up with the Scots when it comes to their passion for the fizzy orange concoction.

The family firm behind the drink, Cumbernauld-based AG Barr, reported yesterday that profits had soared despite the recession and healthy eating campaigns.

More alarmingly for the likes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, it is among the English that Irn-Bru's growth has been highest, with sales soaring by 20 per cent in a year. Sales have gone up by a more modest 5 per cent in Scotland. Revealing details of the English sales surge yesterday, AG Barr chief executive Roger White said: "The main reasons for the growth is we have managed to get the marketing right and the sales execution is improving. Our main focus is on driving organic growth. That means trying to sell more into England and Wales."

In addition to Irn-Bru, Barr owns the Tizer, Strathmore and St Clements brands. Two years ago it bought fruit drinks company Rubicon, giving it additional production and distribution capacity in England.

Mr White said the group's sports sponsorship deal with English Rugby League had boosted sales south of the Border.

"The rugby league sponsorship has gone well," Mr White said. "It's very much a regional sport, particularly strong along the M62, where we've got some good growth prospects."

Irn-Bru's unique, almost spicy flavour has seen it become Scotland's best-selling soft drink, with the company shifting about two million cans a week. Its popularity has given Scotland the distinction of being the only country in the world where Coca-Cola has been beaten to the number-one soft drink – though that is a position that Coca-Cola bosses dispute.

The drink's appeal to the English has been a long time coming, however.

Wine critic Jilly Goolden once famously lambasted the drink as tasting of bubblegum, wet sheep fleece, barley sugar and plastic.

The image of the hungover Scot guzzling Irn-Bru to clear his head has also been deeply ingrained in the English imagination, thanks to the exploits of Rab C Nesbitt.

But sales south of the Border are now boosting profits. The company yesterday posted underlying pre-tax profits of 27.9 million in the year to 30 January.

Barr said it had "substantially outperformed the UK soft drinks market", with turnover up 18.7 per cent to 201.4 million, while like-for-like sales grew 10.6 per cent.

The firm added the new financial year had started well with sales ahead of 2009, but warned of challenges in the general economy and consumer outlook.

Barr said revenues from the brand increased five per cent last year, helped by strong growth in England and Wales.

The Rubicon brand, which had its first full year under the ownership of AG Barr, was also said to be performing ahead of expectations.

Overall, the firm said it beat the wider UK soft drinks market, which grew by just one per cent in volume terms and two per cent in value over the period.

IRN-BRU FACTS

Irn-Bru was first produced in 1901, under the name Iron Brew.

Robin Barr, who stepped down as chairman of AG Barr last year, is one of only two people who know the secret recipe for "Scotland's other national drink".

The family firm was founded in 1830, and in 1875 opened a soft-drinks business, but the formula for Irn-Bru was not found until 1901.

Despite the claims of its most famous ad campaign, it is not made in Scotland from girders, but does contain traces of ammonium ferric citrate, which contains iron.