Glasgow-based Tunnock’s is 120 years old and has been churning out the much-loved Caramel Wafer since 1952. But it is still ahead of its time in many ways, finds Rob Brown
Boyd Tunnock has big ambitions. That British consumers get through five million Caramel Wafers a week, generating more than half of Tunnock's £35m turnover, isn't enough for the 77-year-old.
With average annual growth between 3% and 5%, he says: "The market's not yet saturated. There are lots of people who haven't tasted a Caramel Wafer yet."
So the third-generation head of the company is constantly on the hunt for ways of developing the business and doing battle with UB, Kraft/Cadbury, Mars and the other big boys of biscuits. But, as the firm celebrates its 120th year, exactly where can Tunnock's turn next?
"The first thing was to have a party," says Boyd. Having received £10 for every year's service with the company, each of Tunnock's 550-strong workforce was invited to a knees-up at a top Glasgow hotel.
Then it was back to the task of mapping out the future. NPD is a big part of the strategy, with the firm readying a mini version of the Caramel Wafer available now in Scottish Sainsbury's and Booths in northern England to multiples nationwide. Miniaturised versions of other lines will likely follow.
"It's more a sweet than a biscuit," says Boyd of the tubbed format. "It's 50% chocolate, 50% wafer and caramel and about a quarter of the size of a normal Caramel." The taste, he says, is the same as the standard version, but it's like "putting an already nice-looking girl in a pretty dress she's stunning".
Mini Caramel Wafers reflects the moves made by much of the competition including Premier Foods' Mr Kipling and Kraft/Cadbury to bring out bite-sized versions of established products. "The big boys are always trying to lower production costs, which means they often reduce quality. We only use high-quality chocolate crumb," says Tunnock. And at £3 a tub, they are a nice little earner.
The company recently invested £4m in wrapping and robotic kit at its Uddington, Galsgow, plant and the company's structure allows it to respond quickly to retailer demands, he claims.
Like his father Archie, who created the Caramel Wafer, Tunnock is a regular on the bakery floor. He began his career with the family firm in 1949, starting as a baker and later working on the wrapping machines. "Every Tunnock's Teacake is individually wrapped, not like the rest of them put them out when you open the pack up it's like seeing people naked. When you open up Tunnock's Teacakes it's like seeing them in sports jackets and flannels."
Grandfather Thomas Tunnock, who set up the business in 1890, would approve. But he'd be surprised at the scale of the operation his grandson commands. Tunnock's now exports to 30 countries, which accounted for £5.5m of sales last year. Kuwait alone receives a 40ft container filled with Caramel Logs every week six times as often as America, a market the company is keen to grow. It recently repackaged the iconic wafer to show the cut biscuit on the wrapper, so Stateside customers understand the proposition better.
"America's a big market," says Tunnock. If it takes off, the whopping 100 tonnes of caramel boiled up every week to maintain the global appetite for wafers won't be nearly enough.
Boyd Tunnock has big ambitions. That British consumers get through five million Caramel Wafers a week, generating more than half of Tunnock's £35m turnover, isn't enough for the 77-year-old.
With average annual growth between 3% and 5%, he says: "The market's not yet saturated. There are lots of people who haven't tasted a Caramel Wafer yet."
So the third-generation head of the company is constantly on the hunt for ways of developing the business and doing battle with UB, Kraft/Cadbury, Mars and the other big boys of biscuits. But, as the firm celebrates its 120th year, exactly where can Tunnock's turn next?
"The first thing was to have a party," says Boyd. Having received £10 for every year's service with the company, each of Tunnock's 550-strong workforce was invited to a knees-up at a top Glasgow hotel.
Then it was back to the task of mapping out the future. NPD is a big part of the strategy, with the firm readying a mini version of the Caramel Wafer available now in Scottish Sainsbury's and Booths in northern England to multiples nationwide. Miniaturised versions of other lines will likely follow.
"It's more a sweet than a biscuit," says Boyd of the tubbed format. "It's 50% chocolate, 50% wafer and caramel and about a quarter of the size of a normal Caramel." The taste, he says, is the same as the standard version, but it's like "putting an already nice-looking girl in a pretty dress she's stunning".
Mini Caramel Wafers reflects the moves made by much of the competition including Premier Foods' Mr Kipling and Kraft/Cadbury to bring out bite-sized versions of established products. "The big boys are always trying to lower production costs, which means they often reduce quality. We only use high-quality chocolate crumb," says Tunnock. And at £3 a tub, they are a nice little earner.
The company recently invested £4m in wrapping and robotic kit at its Uddington, Galsgow, plant and the company's structure allows it to respond quickly to retailer demands, he claims.
Like his father Archie, who created the Caramel Wafer, Tunnock is a regular on the bakery floor. He began his career with the family firm in 1949, starting as a baker and later working on the wrapping machines. "Every Tunnock's Teacake is individually wrapped, not like the rest of them put them out when you open the pack up it's like seeing people naked. When you open up Tunnock's Teacakes it's like seeing them in sports jackets and flannels."
Grandfather Thomas Tunnock, who set up the business in 1890, would approve. But he'd be surprised at the scale of the operation his grandson commands. Tunnock's now exports to 30 countries, which accounted for £5.5m of sales last year. Kuwait alone receives a 40ft container filled with Caramel Logs every week six times as often as America, a market the company is keen to grow. It recently repackaged the iconic wafer to show the cut biscuit on the wrapper, so Stateside customers understand the proposition better.
"America's a big market," says Tunnock. If it takes off, the whopping 100 tonnes of caramel boiled up every week to maintain the global appetite for wafers won't be nearly enough.
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