Charlie can keep his Chocolate Factory and I’ll take the Irn-Bru factory (HQ) in Cumbernauld any day!  Ok, I don’t know what the secret ingredient is, that was just a hook so I could tell you more about my day of indulgence with the company who created ‘Scotland’s other drink’.

 It is under the watchful eye of the Barr family that Irn-Bru has become one of Scotland’s truly iconic and global brands.  The only living man on the planet who knows the secret ingredients of Irn-Bru’s distinctive taste is Robin Barr who recently retired as Chairman (May 2009).  Every month Robin comes in and locks himself away in ‘the essence’ room where he mixes a large vat of the recipe for distribution around the world.  Robin remained in the role of Chairman until the age of 71, it was without doubt a labour of love for him and I’m sure this shone through in his leadership style. 

 And so, to some interesting bullet point facts as I could go on all day…

-          It is true that Scotland is one of the only countries in the world where Coca Cola is not the top selling soft drinks brand.

-          50% of Irn-Bru’s UK sales are in fact south of the border.

-          ‘Full fat’ Irn-Bru outsells the ‘semi-skimmed’ variety by more than double, the opposite to Coca Cola where diet is the top seller.

-          The smallest man on the Board of Directors is 6’1”; Robin Barr is 6’8” so little, big men need not apply!

-          The initial snowman advert had no snow until Commercial Director, Jonathan Kemp, suggested that the little boy who plummeted out of the sky and bounced off the concrete in George Square looked dead!

-          Irn-Bru has an interesting product called ‘KA’ which is a pineapple flavoured tropical drink only available in central London.  This is a great lesson in STG as it is targeted solely at Afro-Caribbean tastes and is now dominating this niche market.  Its closest competitor sales have dropped by almost 70% in 5 years (not sure if this is equivalent to increase in ‘KA’ market share.)

-          Yes it did used to be called ‘Iron Brew’ but was changed to ‘Irn-Bru’ as although it does contain traces of iron it is not actually brewed and this was seen as inaccurate labelling.

-          If you think Irn-Bru’s marketing appears slightly maverick in style you should see some of the advertising campaigns that didn’t make it out of HQ.  My lips are sealed..

 And finally, as my meeting coincided with the morning after our networking event with the Saltire Foundation Undergraduates I can conclude once and for all (after guzzling around 5 cans) that it definitely is not a hangover cure!  Sorry.

He's alive and kicking.