Asda rings up £10.5m sales of Scottish produce

SUPERMARKET chain Asda has rounded off 2015 with sales of Scottish food and drink worth £10.5 million.

Thistly Cross cider maker Peter Stuart, left, with Asda's Brian O'Shea. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The grocer, which has some 60 stores north of the Border, said yesterday that more than 200 local lines hit its shelves during Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink, and promised that 2016 would herald “another year of impressive growth”.

During 2015, Asda signed supply deals, worth a combined £275,000, with three Scottish bakeries. Aberdeenshire firm Murdoch Allan landed the biggest contract with the supermarket chain and took on ten extra staff to deal with the increased workload.

Paul Allan, managing director of Murdoch Allan, based in Hatton near Peterhead, said: “Since agreeing increased production and distribution of our products with Asda earlier this year, sales and profit have increased.”

Brian O’Shea, Asda’s regional buying manager for Scotland, said: “We’ve found that half of shoppers are now buying local food in their weekly shop and we anticipate another year of impressive growth in our Scottish product range in 2016. We place huge importance on supporting Scottish suppliers to grow their businesses.”