MacKays Dundee Marmalade

MacKays in Carnoustie are Dundee’s only remaining marmalade and jam manufacturers, and are the largest producers in Europe still using traditional copper-bottomed boiling pans for production.

In 1995, Paul Grant bought the business and developed it into an international success, enhancing some of the jam and marmalades with alcohol, such as whisky. This helped Paul enter the Japanese market in a big way, and that is now their largest export market.

The factory looks almost as if it’s been camouflaged so no one can see what goes on inside. From outside, it looks like a row of weavers’ cottages, but inside it’s the ‘real MacKay’. Several copper-lined boiling pans bubble with golden syrupy marmalade. The basic MacKays brand targets everyday consumption and they also have their Mrs Bridges brand targetting specialist food shops and the gift market, with its cute oval bottles. The Mrs Bridges brand won six Great Taste Awards in 2004.