Scottish Ambient Produce
We are champions of Scottish produce and local sourcing and that’s what this category is all about! Scotland’s climate, land and people make it the perfect place to produce some amazing products. From spring water from the highlands to potatoes from the fertile fields Scotland produces a wide range of produce which would compliment any range. We stock some of the best that Scotland has to offer from brand new gluten free and vegan ranges from lazy day foods to traditional famous Deans shortbread and Tunnocks Teacakes.
Ambient Food Products
Scottish Food Brands
Weekly bags of Crisps
Orkney Vanilla Fudge Bars
Case Studies
Deans Short Cakes
The Dean’s story begins in 1975 at the heart of Helen Dean’s kitchen, in the small town of Huntly, North East Scotland. It was here that Helen first created her delicious traditional shortbread, and her friends and family loved the ‘melt in the mouth’ sensation. Her husband Bill, a Drum Major, thought it was so delicious he decided to use Helen’s baking to help raise funds for the local Huntly pipe band. Their touring helped spread her shortbread’s fame far and wide, and soon, the aroma of home baking would fill the town as Helen established her own small bakery to meet demand. So popular was the light and crumbly shortbread that in 1992, Dean’s moved to a new purpose built bakery on the outskirts of Huntly. Today, Dean’s is still a family run business priding itself on using time honoured handcrafted baking methods, and is recognised as ‘The Leading Premium Quality Scottish Shortbread’.
Mackies Crisps
Mackie’s Crisps are the creation of a award winning family business – Mackie’s at Taypack Ltd. – which was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between Perthshire potato farmers, the Taylor family, and Mackie’s of Scotland, renowned for their luxury ice cream.
The Taylor family are experts in potato production and sourcing: they’ve been growing potatoes in Perthshire for several generations. The Mackie’s have over 20 years’ experience in producing indulgent ice cream from their farm in Aberdeenshire. Together we have focused their expertise to create our range of Mackie’s Potato Crisps, which are now available in around 20 countries around the world.
As their companies continue to grow they remain committed to family values and continue to place heritage and provenance at the heart of everything they do. Mackie’s crisps are made in Perthshire, at a production site just a few miles from the Taylor’s family farm, ‘Moncur’. Made “from plough to pack” in Scotland, Mackie’s Potato Crisps deliver natural goodness and tasteable difference in every crunch.
Their potatoes are naturally grown and are the best varieties for crisping. Mackie’s seasonings, too, are all natural and have been carefully selected to create a range of traditional and Scottish flavours. But what really sets Mackie’s Crisps apart is their distinctive texture and taste; they’re produced using a unique gentle cooking method which protects the flavour and quality to ensure a great crunch, fresh potato taste and dry texture – so what you’ll taste is the potato crisp, not the oil!
Hamlyns Perfect Porridge
Hamlyns of Scotland is part of a family food business which started milling oats in 1888, so it’s safe to say that they know a thing or two about oats. Their traditional range of Scottish Porridge Oats and Scottish Oatmeal is produced from premium Scottish oats, grown and milled in Scotland – 100% Scottish from seed to mill to finished product.
Hamlyns traditional range of Scottish Porridge Oats and Oatmeal are 100% natural with no added sugar, salt or additives. Eating oats and oatmeal can benefit your health in many ways, which is why health professionals recommend them as part of a healthy diet.
The Food and Drink Hub offer us a bespoke service, supplying a wide, tailored range of local Scottish produce to our stores to supplement our core national range. We have found the Food and Drink Hub to be experts in their knowledge of the Scottish market and proactive in their approach. They handle orders with minimal fuss and have increased our supply chain efficiency and central control by reducing the number of direct deliveries into stores.
We have a fantastic relationship with Food & Drink Hub. They understand our beers and work hand in hand with us to increase market share and distribution. Communication is positive and constructive and Steve is always willing to offer feedback and advice on new brands.
The Food and Drink hub have provided excellent continued support for Hamlyn’s Oats, Nisha and Millar confectionery. They spotted an opportunity to increase their product ranges to the Hubs partners and that has been pinnacle to this year’s success. I firmly believe that in partnership with The Food and Drink Hub can grow these brands and produce so many exciting products in each of the product categories.
As a company, we’ve really enjoyed working with The Food and Drink Hub over the last few years. We’ve found them to be excellent partners in business with an experience behind them that allows them to understand the needs of their suppliers and customers alike.
As a relatively new entrant to the world of the multiples, we’ve found the support offered by The Food and Drink Hub invaluable. They understood what was different about our brand and our plough-to-pint ethos, and have ensured that we have gained listings on the back of it.
Working with The Food and Drink hub has been a fantastic experience, and has really helped us gain traction where it would otherwise be extremely difficult. Ease of doing business is the key, from being set up to supply, to the order process and through to deliveries. There is no doubt that The Food and Drink hub have helped many small suppliers throughout Scotland to grow their businesses.
It’s been great developing our business alongside The Food and Drink Hub over the past few years. We have a good working relationship with Steve Wallace and the team at The Food and Drink Hub. Without any shadow of a doubt the support, passion, advice and knowledge that they have under their belts, has gained us significant listings with Coop and Morrison’s to name but a few. This partnership has not only gained us access to new markets but has also significantly helped to raise the profile of our brewery and our brands.
I have worked with James and Steve at the Food and Drink Hub for over 4 years and it has been a very fruitful relationship. They are very professional and have considerable in-depth knowledge of the retail trade, which has enabled them to win new customers and develop new customers over this period. My brands have performed well with their customers, and we have developed a close and friendly working relationship, which I value.
Over the past year, The Food and Drink Hub have become one of our Top 10 customers from a virtually standing start. This is as a result of working together on a number of on-trade and off-trade opportunities within the Scottish craft beer sector. We look forward to growing our respective business through 2018 and beyond
Mackie’s Crisps have been delighted to work with The Food and Drink Hub over the past couple of years in growing our brand together. During 2017 we saw a 79% increase in sales by working closely with their team.