Scottish crisps maker Mackie’s at Taypack has announced plans to expand its operations after sales were up by more than a fifth last year.
The company, which is a partnership between ice cream giant Mackie’s of Scotland and the Taylor family at Errol in Perthshire, says it plans to ramp up production this year following a 22% increase in turnover to £10.8 million in 2021.
The company, which currently makes around 500,000 packets of crisps every week, says it will double the size of its factory this year so it can expand production and gain new custom.
“Our customers have turned to something they love and a small treat they can enjoy in moderation,” said Mackie’s at Taypack managing director, James Taylor.
“This hasn’t stopped them trying something a bit different and we’ve taken risks – with multiple launches across seasonal and world-first flavours providing a lot of excitement.”
He said the company’s performance over the last few years was a reflection of its “exceptional team”, however the wider recruitment and supply crises in the food and drink sector were a challenge for the firm.
“We will be working hard to ensure neither become barriers to continued growth of the scale we’ve been able to deliver,” added Mr Taylor.
Reflecting on 2021, he said the company had launched more than six new products across its ranges of crisps, popcorn and lentil waves.
This included sales of 230,000 packets of Boxing Day curry crisps in the run up to Christmas, as well as the sale of 160,000 packets of its Sticky Toffee Pudding popcorn – in total sales of festive packs were up 47% on the previous year to more than £2.25m.
The company’s national wholesale account manager, Mel Hack, said it had been an exciting 12 months for Mackie’s at Taypack.
She said: “It’s evident there has been a huge demand from our consumers for Mackie’s crisps to be more widely available within this channel by the fantastic rate of sale and strong growth we have seen.
“We have some very exciting channel specific plans this year which will enable our impulse customers to drive incremental profitable growth through our large range of crisps, popcorn and healthy snacks.”
She said as well as increased sales of Mackie’s products through supermarkets and convenience stores, the company’s products had benefitted from the revival of the food industry including bars, cafes, and dining options on planes and trains.
