To celebrate this year’s Great Taste of Scotland event, Asda has teamed up with Mackie’s Crisps to unveil a selection of flavoured popcorn, in a deal worth over £100k.
Throughout this year’s event customers at 50 of Asda’s Scottish stores will be able to get their hands on Sweet and Salted, Scotch Bonnet Chilli Pepper, Butterscotch and Lightly Sea Salted popcorn.
The new deal with Mackie’s Crisps is the latest in a five year relationship which already sees the supermarket stock 13 flavours of the popular crisp range and sales predictions of the new popcorn lines are already predicted to reach over 500,000 units across retailers this year alone.
Due to the already hit success of the products amongst customers, the Sweet and Salted and Scotch Bonnet Chilli Pepper lines have already been earmarked for permanent listing. Customers will be able to choose from a 100g/70g sharing bag to enjoy with friends and family or a 30g/20g ‘impulse’ pack to enjoy on the go.
The decision for Mackie’s Crisps to expand into popcorn comes after recent data suggests that the once-upon-a-time cinema favourite, is now a market worth £114.3m and in the last year has grown by 30.8%.
The popcorn expansion is the first time a major Scottish brand has entered the market and will make a nice addition to the 9.5 million packs of Mackie’s Crisps sold each year. Mackie’s are also exporting the range to Switzerland and Estonia, with crisps already retailing in 20 countries worldwide.
James Taylor, Commercial Director at Mackie’s Crisps, said, “In developing our new popcorn range, we looked for inspiration from our existing Mackie’s family of products. Our Scotch Bonnet Chilli Pepper and Butterscotch popcorn flavours are inspired by existing Mackie’s flavours available across our range of crisps and ice cream.
“Not only has our partnership with Asda helped to increase our product range and availability, it has also help us expand on our local recruitment with now almost 50 based at our production factory in Errol [Perthshire].”
Regional Buying Manager at Asda, Heather Turnbull, added, “The new popcorn listing makes a fine addition to our already substantial Mackie’s offering and since the launch of the Great Taste of Scotland event we have seen the popularity of Scottish products increase considerably.
“We stock more than 1,200 products, worth over £1.2bn, from over 100 Scottish suppliers, allowing customers in all our stores to enjoy premium products packed full of home-grown Scottish taste, talent and provenance.”
The Great Taste of Scotland event takes place over a three week period in all 61 Asda Scotland stores and sees the promotion of more than 115 product lines to encourage customers to enjoy authentic Scottish food and drink produce.