Seven is definitely our lucky number at Cairnsmhor after we scooped seven gold awards at this year’s Great Taste Awards, four of them 2-star gold awards! The Great Taste Awards are considered the most important food award scheme in the UK. Rigorous and completely independent, Great Taste is to speciality food and drink what Michelin is to fine dining. We were especially pleased that two of our new crackers won awards, as well as a selection of Cairnsmhor favourites. 

Here’s what the judges said about our award winning products:

Crushed Black Pepper Crackers: Add some good brie on a hot summers' day - yum!

Parmesan & Pepper Oatcakes: The size and texture and thickness is great. With a little more tweaking of flavours this could warrant 3 stars.

Wholegrain Mustard Crackers: This is an excellent product. Good crisp texture. Mild mustard flavour.

Haggis Flavour Oatcakes: An excellent product in the way that it captures the flavour of haggis.

Traditional Scottish Oatcakes: You can taste full flavour of oats rather than sugar or salt as is often the case with oatcakes. Good flavour, worthy of a gold.

Lemon Shorties: Lovely product. A great texture, not too short but just the right level of crunch.

Raspberry Shortcake: The product looks great and is innovative. The raspberry flavour is good. 

We’ve ordered lots and lots of Great Taste Award stickers to highlight the accolades to customers and we’re hoping to add lots more gold awards to the range at next year’s awards... watch this space.

PLUS: Cairnsmhor Cheese Straws are now in stock, always a tasty savoury favourite with customers, order yours today!

Yes we know that Autumn has barely started, but now is Christmas hamper planning time and Cairnsmhor’s indulgent treats in stylish packaging make it perfect for including in hampers. 

Sweet indulgent biscuits, flavoursome savoury snacks, quintessentially Scottish treats and the perfect accompaniments to festive cheese selections. Cairnsmhor’s range of delicious and attractive products will complement many styles of Christmas hamper selections. 

If you’re planning hampers for Christmas 2010, plan to include products from Cairnsmhor’s award winning range. 

 

Although Cairnsmhor is a Scottish brand it’s attracting more and more interest south of the border. We recently took part in the Harrogate Speciality Food Show and we were delighted with the response to our range, especially the new additions to the range, and so we’re continuing to expand our distribution in England.  

Thirty years after he sold his first Wild and Hairy Haggis Jim Boardman, founder of Thistle Products who created Cairnsmhor, has hung up his Jimmy Hat and retired. Jim transformed the Scottish souvenir industry with products that made tourists, and Scottish people alike, smile. We’d like to sincerely thank Jim for his continued support for the company and we hope he has many happy days at the riverbank pursuing his passion for fishing in the years to come. 

We’ve been serving and supplying retailers of all sizes for over 25 ye

ars, so we’ve picked up a few hints, tricks and tips along the way to help you maximise your retail success. We’ll be including one in each of our e-newsletters which might spark an idea or inspire an activity to help your business.

It’s important to differentiate your business in the marketplace, whatever your business, but for independent and specialist retailers it’s absolutely critical. Don’t compete on price, compete on experience. You’re not just selling products, you’re selling a retail experience, your specialist knowledge, your passion, your flair. Never undersell or undervalue your specialist, personal qualities.