If you look at supermarket shelves throughout the festive break they are sure to be littered with a variety of nostalgic flavours of ingredients that usually grace your dinner table.
From pigs in blankets to turkey with stuffing, not to mention glazed ham, Brussels sprouts, gingerbread, candy cane and more, crisp and confectionary firms across the country all battle to be the product of choice throughout Christmas and New Year.
Scotland’s biggest crisp brand, Mackie’s Crisps is produced by Mackie’s at Taypack, in Errol, Perthshire, and they too have been successful in getting a slice of the action.
Taking around a year to develop from start to finish, Mackie’s new seasonal products – sticky toffee pudding popcorn, toasted marshmallow popcorn and Boxing Day curry crisps – have seen huge demand with the crisp manufacturer doubling its sales since 2020.
Now making more than 500,000 packets of crisps a month, the festive collection, which incorporates six items, has generated 2.25million products versus 1.53 million last year.
The magic of Christmas (and sales)
But what is it about these festive products that we seem to love at this time of year?
Melissa Hack, wholesale account manager at Mackie’s at Taypack says the addition of the three new products has certainly increased the popularity of the festive offering as a whole.
She said: “The festive lines have massively driven our success in Q3 and heading into Q4. Our six festive products – three flavours of crisps and three flavours of popcorn – year-on-year we are up 46% for revenue and 47% on number of packs sold.
“Overall we did 2.25million of festive products versus 1.53 million last year.
“Boxing Day curry crisps, sticky toffee pudding popcorn and toasted marshmallows were all new this year, however, toasted marshmallows was available only to one exclusive last year.
“We did just shy of 230,000 packs of Boxing Day curry, sticky toffee pudding was just over 160,000 and toasted marshmallow was over 200,000 packs. They have all done really well.
“Our standard turkey and stuffing and then pigs in blankets crisps have done well, as has the gingerbread popcorn. Turkey and stuffing was the most successful with 838,000 packs.”
Why do we love Mackie’s Crisps festive flavours?
Changing the packaging from matte to a shiny new look a few years ago to give the brand’s festive offering a more premium look is just one of the things Mackie’s Crisps did to get more eyeballs on the products says Shelley Reid, brand manager at the firm.
The festive collection features turkey and stuffing, pigs in blankets and Boxing Day curry crisps, and gingerbread, sticky toffee pudding and toasted marshmallow popcorn.
And Melissa is sure the new distribution wins the company has experienced in the last year or so has certainly helped, too.
“We’ve had a lot of new distribution wins in England and I think that has helped. But in fine foods arena we’ve had listings with wholesalers who are servicing high-end retail outlets, delis, farm shops and butchers, so we’ve really grown there too,” added Melissa.
“Where we have gained distribution, the sales have just been phenomenal and we’ve had lots of repeat sales, too.
“The flavours have driven excitement and while there’s some real competition in wholesale, in impulse channels – farm shops, delis etc, there is less festive flavours competition so that has been really successful.
“People are having more occasions at home now and it is cheaper to stay in, therefore spend on food and drink for the home is higher. Everyone likes to treat themselves at this time of year, so there’s an element of that, and crisps and popcorn lend themselves to family snacking occasions.”
Can they top this success?
Experiencing their first million pound month last November/December, Melissa outlines that the firm has experienced similar success the past few months.
But will Mackie’s Crisps be able to keep customers satisfied with seasonal favourites like turkey stuffing crisps and gingerbread popcorn if they continue to add to their portfolio?
Shelley seems to think so.
She added: “Sticky toffee pudding is so indulgent and so sweet, but it is so moreish. The Boxing Day curry is a world first and no one else has done that so that has been very exciting.
“We’ve had such good feedback on them. Originally sticky toffee was just meant to be for Christmas but it will be available all year round, with it being more readily available in the winter months with it being a winter dessert.
“Customers have been asking for the Boxing Day curry all year round as well.
“We’re not sure of next years flavours just yet, but we have a few things up our sleeve.
“There’s also a lot of interest in healthy private labelled products which we’re currently working on too as a result of a new machine we have on the premises.”