Walker's Shortbread

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Walker's Shortbread Ltd.
Company type Private
Industry Baked goods
Founded1898;126 years ago (1898) in Torphins, Scotland
FounderJoseph Walker
Headquarters Aberlour, Scotland
Area served
Worldwide
Products Shortbread, biscuits, cookies, and crackers
Website walkersshortbread.com

Walker's Shortbread Ltd. (formerly Walkers) is a Scottish manufacturer of shortbread, biscuits, cookies, and crackers. The company's well-known shortbread is baked in the Moray village of Aberlour, following a recipe developed by Joseph Walker in 1898.

Contents

The company is one of Scotland's biggest exporters of food, [1] [2] and employs over 1,200 people. [3] It is sold in tartan packaging all over the world. [4]

History

The business was founded by Joseph Walker in the village of Aberlour, Speyside, in 1898. It quickly started producing shortbread. [5] The company started producing oaten biscuits for Duchy Originals in 1992, having been approached the previous year. [6]

The profits of Walker's Shortbread, which is also still owned and managed by the Walker family, [7] were diminished by a global increase in the price of butter in 2018 by around 50% [8] due to supply shortages and demand increases, resulting in the company seeing a 60% drop in operating profit. [9]

The company rebranded, in 2020, changing its name to Walker's Shortbread Ltd. [10] It announced it was exploring how to create a vegan version of the butter-based biscuit in 2024. [11]

Locations

Walker's Shortbread have their headquarters at Aberlour House in Aberlour and have a production site in Elgin. [12]

See also

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References

  1. Reid, Scott (7 October 2020). "Iconic shortbread maker Walker's slims product range and pays back £1.3m to government". The Scotsman . Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  2. Williams, Martin. "Complaints over Walkers' shortbread sold under a Union Flag". The Herald . Glasgow. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. Banks, Alex (3 October 2023). "Profits plunge at Walker's Shortbread takes shine off higher sales". The Press and Journal . Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  4. Searle, Maddy (6 October 2017). "All you need to know about Walker's Shortbread". The Scotsman . Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  5. Kay, Emma (2020). A History of British Baking: From Blood Bread to Bake-off. Pen & Sword. pp. 113–114.
  6. McCrea, Diane (2007). The Handbook of Organic and Fair Trade Food Marketing. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 176–180. ISBN   9780470996089.
  7. Bindrim, Kira (2 July 2007). "Walkers Shortbread names new CEO". NewYorkBusiness.com. Crain Communications. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. Williams-Grut, Oscar. "The butter market is going crazy". Business Insider . Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  9. "Shortbread firm hit by butter price surge". BBC News . 18 July 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  10. Symon, Ken (7 October 2020). "Walker's Shortbread returns furlough payments as it reports increased turnover and marginally reduced profits". Business Insider . Insider Publications. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  11. Woolfson, Daniel (3 March 2023). "Royal shortbread maker poised to go vegan". The Daily Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  12. "History & Heritage". WalkersShortbread.com. 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.[ self-published source ]