OUR PHILOSOPHY HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO PRODUCE THE VERY BEST CONFECTIONERY AND TO DELIVER BEST VALUE AND SERVICE TO OUR CUSTOMER issues and difficulties with supply saw Douglas’s son Crawford leaving his position of Production Director at Fuller’s to start manufacturing once again from scratch at Fort Matilda, initially with only six members of staff to concentrate on the Buchanan’s products. Two years later the business of Drysdale & Gibb was acquired as it fitted comfortably into the niche market occupied with pride by Buchanan’s. 1995 saw the acquisition of ailing English company, Caramel House Ltd based in Merseyside and the business and production was also moved to Greenock.
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Another pivotal moment for the business took place in 1990 with the launch of a new range called ‘Millions’ which was the brainchild of Douglas Rae. Millions, the tiny, tasty, chewy sweets, available in different fruit flavours, became an instant success through innovative tube packaging developed on specially modified equipment at Greenock. The Millions brand has grown each year with worldwide sales currently approaching 2,000 tonnes per year with further expansion in the pipeline. At the same time that Millions was introduced the ‘Half
Pounders’ range was also launched, an equally important contributor to the growth of the business. The range encompassed more than 60 varieties of sweets, all with the same price for each variety. Half Pounders has become the private retailers ‘own label’ brand and is now only available through the private sector under the £OnePounder brand post metrication. Further growth came in 1998 with the acquisition of Hills of Hawick whose main product, Hawick Balls, enjoyed a high profile through the constant PR
