Scotland's favourite food and drink brands revealed

September 18, 2019 | Food and Drink

The top 20 food and drink brands as chosen by Scottish consumers have been revealed.

Kantar WorldPanel’s third annual Scottish Brand Footprint report, published today, has revealed the top performing food and drink brands in Scotland. Using Kantar’s unique consumer reach points (CRP) metric, the ranking uncovers which brands are being chosen off she shelf most often and by the most shoppers.

It has been another year of disruption for Scottish brands, which continue to grapple with the changing retail landscape and shifting shopper behaviour.

Despite these challenges, brands are in rude health in Scotland. Over the course of the year, shoppers spent £164 more on brands per person than the average Briton. Brands also take a higher share of total spend in Scotland when compared to Britain overall, and are growing faster than supermarket own label ranges.

The five most chosen brands in Scotland remain; Warburtons in the top spot, followed by Heinz, McVities, Coca Cola and Hovis, with no change in the top five compared with last year. Snapping at the heels of the top 20 most chosen brands in Scotland are McLelland, Bells, AG Barr and Tunnock’s.

When it comes to the most popular Scottish brands, the top two retain their places in the ranking. Irn Bru retains its number one position, with Grahams Family Dairy not far behind in second place. Grahams is number 10 in the overall list. Irn Bru is ranked 150th in the UK, with Grahams 185th.

The brand’s NPD portfolio has helped it to gain ground and expand into health-focused categories such as high protein yoghurt and ice cream, and cottage cheese.

Robert Graham, managing director at Graham’s the Family Dairy, said: ‘2019 has been an incredibly busy year for us with so much exciting new dairy product development and launches. As a family business we pride ourselves not only on working hard to produce high quality, fresh and great tasting products, but also being dynamic and innovative to meet and keep up with the fast-paced consumer trends that are very much now aligned to dairy products.

Dr Robert Graham (Chairman, Graham’s The Family Dairy), Mrs Jean Graham (Company Secretary, Graham’s The Family Dairy), Carol Graham (Marketing Director, Graham’s The Family Dairy), Robert Graham (Managing Director, Graham’s The Family Dairy) (Photo: Chris Watt)

‘It is an amazing achievement to be both no 2 Scottish brand as well as no 10 global brand in Scotland. It is brilliant to know that in even in our 80th year of business, Scottish customers are still choosing to buy our locally produced products, over other international competitors. Working in partnership with over 110 farmers, we hope to continue to help the Scottish dairy industry thrive.’

The Free From category continues its ascent and Nairns makes an appearance at position 20 on the ranking as its portfolio develops to address this market.

The Scottish top 20 brands, and their placing compared with last year, are:

1, Warburtons (=); 2, Heinz (=); 3, McVitie’s (=); 4, Coca-Cola (=); 5, Hovis (=); 6, Walkers (=); 7, Muller (+1); 8, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk (+1); 9, Irn Bru (+1); 10, Graham’s the Family Dairy (+1); 11, Kingsmill (-4); 12, Birds Eye (+2); 13, McCain (-2); 14, Pepsi (-2); 15, Lurpak (=); 16, Nescafe (+1); 17, Cadbury’s (-1); 18, Galaxy (new); 19, Kit Kat (+1); 20, Batchelors (-1).

The 30 top Scottish brands in Scotland are:

1, Irn Bru; 2, Graham’s the Family Dairy; 3, Bell’s Food Group; 4, McLelland; 5, AG Barr; 6, Tunnocks; 7, Baxters; 8, McIntosh; 9, Malcolm Allan; 10, Mackies; 11, Scotty; 12, Halls; 13, Tennents; 14, Simon Howie; 15, Wiseman; 16, J G Ross; 17, Border Biscuits; 8, Highland Spring Group; 19, Rowan Glen; 20, Nairns; 21, Albert Bartlett; 22, Mac B; 23, Patersons; 24, Great Scot; 25, Famous Grouse; 26, Mackays; 27, Calder Millerfield; 28, Buchanan; 29, Scottish Blend; 30, We Hae Meat.