Case study: Nairn’s

This content is part of our annual food and drink collaboration with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and the Food and Drink Exporters Association. Find out more about this feature at – https://opentoexport.com/info/food-and-drink-feature/

Nairn’s has been baking oat-based products including oatcakes, crackers, biscuits, oat-based snacks and gluten free products in Scotland since 1896. Nairn’s’ vision is to make the most delicious, natural and wholesome oat products to support a healthy lifestyle.

Exports account for approximately 10% of our the company’s turnover and we’ve seen this increase around 20% year on year, in line with our strategic export ambitions.

Nairn’s’ focus is to develop new markets, as well as grow sales in our current markets. We are investing to expand the distribution and develop consumer awareness for the brand. We are confident our strategy will be successful in achieving the objective.

Understanding and acceptance of gluten free oats has been challenging in some markets but Gluten Free is quickly becoming our most successful range internationally. The Free From trend is developing worldwide and we are very well placed to offer great tasting and healthy gluten free products.

Our most successful export markets are USA, Canada, New Zealand, UAE, South Africa, Cyprus.

Martyn Gray, Nairn’s Managing Director, said:

“We see great opportunities in the continued development of our export markets. The key for us is developing long-term partnerships with local importers who have a detailed knowledge of their markets. We have set very challenging targets to grow the proportion of exports within our total business.”