The deal, worth an anticipated £500,000 in retail sales for the manufacturer, will see the flavour listed in up 245 stores nationwide from June.
Lyndsay Mackay, senior national account manager at Mackie’s of Scotland, said the Waitrose deal was a further milestone that will help expand the brands reach south of the border, as well as meeting demand of many existing fans of the product who have not easily been able to get their hands on Honeycomb until now.
Ice cream opportunities
“The success of our Traditional real dairy ice cream over the past three decades has been brilliant. Our Scottish consumers have long been able to enjoy our wide range of fantastic flavours, and we’re so excited about this new listing giving consumers in England and Wales an opportunity to discover more of Mackie’s,” Mackay added.
“That change is now well underway. This Waitrose listing for honeycomb comes after last year’s similar listing with Sainsbury’s, making our Honeycomb easier than ever for consumers to get their hands on it across Great Britain.”
This new listing followed significant sales growth for the ice cream maker, with an increase of half a million customers across England, Northern Ireland and Wales – a feat attributed to Mackie’s appearance on the BBC Television programme Inside the Factory.
Supermarket listings
Since 2017, Mackie’s of Scotland has seen a number of successful supermarket listings that have helped support its growth, starting with a £700,000 deal to supply Sainsbury’s stores in the UK.
Last year saw the Taylor family purchase its remaining shares in the ice cream company from Scottish crisp brand Mackie’s at Taypack, allowing it to operate as its own separate entity.
Meanwhile, Scotch pie manufacturer Bells Food Group created 15 new jobs after securing a major own-label pastry contract to supply Tesco stores across the UK.