A north-east firm has secured a £150,000 deal with an international supermarket supplying its new Scottish shortbread.
Lidl has teamed up with Aberdeenshire family business Duncan’s of Deeside to produce all-butter shortbread fingers which will be available exclusively across their 95 Scottish stores.
It is the first own-brand collaboration between the grocer and baker.
The businesses have been working over the last six months to perfect the flavour, texture and shape for their first collaboration.
The hand-baked shortbread is cooked in a traditional “tray bake style” of eight fingers, which can be broken off and enjoyed one by one.
Lidl’s head of regional buying for Scotland, Paul McQuade, said: “At Lidl, we are firmly committed to supporting and championing local producers, and are incredibly proud of our deluxe Scottish selection product range.
“We were keen to add a new Scottish shortbread to the deluxe range, and Duncan’s of Deeside proved to be the perfect partner.”
Based in the heart of the Aberdeenshire countryside, third generation bakers Duncan’s of Deeside have grown significantly in the last five years with a father and son team at the helm, and currently employ a team of 28 craft bakers.
Paul Duncan, managing director of Duncan’s of Deeside, said: “We have been in business for more than 30 years and our move to our new bakery in Laurencekirk means we are able to reach a much wider market in the UK and overseas. Yet, we have still retained that personal touch that we’ve had from day one. My father and I are very much part of daily life in the bakery.
“We attended the Lidl Meet The Buyer event last September and gained valuable insight into the supermarket’s product range and focus on quality, which in turn helped us develop a perfect product. The security and certainty provided by our partnership with Lidl has enabled us to invest in and substantially grow our business by purchasing new equipment and increasing our supplier orders.”
