Case Study - Ramsay Of Carluke - Scotland Food and Drink

Case Study:Ramsay Of Carlukewww.ramsayofcarluke.co.uk.With over 150 years’ experience of producing quality baconunder its belt, it is fair to say that Ramsay of Carluke knowsmore than a thing or two about the industry from both asupplier and consumer perspective. Yet while the awardwinningcompany can boast that it is a Rick Stein Food Heroand lists a plethora of celebrity chefs among its admirers,it still welcomes all the help and advice it can get.As director Andrew Ramsay explains: “I think there is aperception that we are a much bigger company. It’s greatto have a high profile but we are still a small company andvalue any help available to us. When you win awards andreceive endorsements for your products from the likes ofRick Stein people think you have more resources at yourdisposal than you actually do.”Ramsay of Carluke, which uses only Farm Assured outdoorreared free range pigs, produces traditional Ayrshirebacon, free range pork, sausages, black pudding, haggis,cooked hams and matured, grass-fed beef. The company,based on the edge of the lush and productive Clyde Valley,became a member of Scotland Food & Drink in 2008 havingpreviously worked with its predecessor Scottish Food &Drink and also Scottish Enterprise.Says Andrew: “My first reaction when I heard about thenew organisation was ‘Here’s another expense’, butbecause we had first-hand knowledge of how the otherorganisation had helped us we reckoned it would be aimingto do roughly the same – it was a no-brainer in the end.I also believe that you have to give these things a chanceand support your own industry.”Ramsay’s wide range of quality products is available onlineand in fine-food retail outlets, including Dobbies food halls,delicatessens, farm shops and some supermarkets.In addition, the company is a regular at public eventssuch as the BBC Good Food Show Scotland where, in 2009,BBC Saturday Kitchen’s James Martin and the intrepidHairy Bikers demonstrated with some of its products –including succulent beef fillet and black pudding – in theCookery Supertheatre.“Shows like BBC Good Food are great for raising our profileand we always a sell a lot of our products,” says Andrew.“Word of mouth is something you simply can’t buy and whensomeone sees, tastes and buys one of our products for thevery first time at a show, then that consumer is likely to buyagain. It helps build loyalty for the Ramsay of Carluke brand.“We do have a high profile and while some ofthat is down to luck we have also had to workvery hard to be in the right place at the righttime. In that respect, Scotland Food & Drinkhas been extremely helpful in telling us abouttrade shows and other exhibitions that theythink may be useful to our business.”For example, the company took a stand on the ScottishPavilion at the 2009 Speciality & Fine Food Fair London andhas also attended the Real Food Festival. Scotland Food &Drink also arranged for Ramsay’s products to be on-boardthe P&O Aurora, the exciting venue for a major foodserviceforum. “We are still getting feedback from the Aurora eventand that was a fantastic opportunity for us that we wouldnot have known about had Scotland Food & Drink not toldus,” explains Andrew.“The Real Food Festival wasn’t such a good investmentfor us in terms of future business opportunities but atthe end of the day we took the decision to attend. We didenough trade to cover our costs and I’m glad we wentbecause the experience has taught us that we must be veryselective when we attend shows. There are so many eventsnowadays – trade and consumer – so the lesson is that youhave to do your homework carefully before deciding whichhas the best audience for your products.”Meanwhile, Andrew attended a recent SALSA (Safe andLocal Supplier Approval) workshop at Barony College inDumfries as part of Scotland Food & Drink’s Access toMarkets programme. “This was an extremely informativeand useful event for us,” Andrew confirms. “Not only did wemeet a lot of people and make new contacts, it cleared upa lot of questions we had about SALSA and was well worthgiving up the time to attend.”