Throughout the month of August Scottish shortbread manufacturer, Dean’s has been celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a special campaign.
The campaign has seen their mascot, Shortie tour the length and breadth of Scotland, visiting iconic sites, activities and events.
Having first started baking delicious handcrafted shortbread in Helen Dean’s kitchen in 1975, the family owned business, which is still based in Huntly, has gone on to worldwide success. It continues to bake around 69 million shortbread biscuits every year and exports to over 25 countries including the USA, China and Saudi Arabia.
Travelling a total of 840 miles, Shortie and his team have visited nine Scottish towns and seven national events. This has included teeing off at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, taking part in the mascot race at the Perth Kilt Run and entertaining the masses at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.
Shortie and the team also made time for some special joint anniversary celebrations as they invited North-east charity, Befriend a Child to their factory in Huntly. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the children’s charity and Dean’s, who this year are supporting Befriend a Child alongside SANDS as their nominated charities, were delighted to invite a group of children to meet Shortie and enjoy some of the delicious home baked delights from the factory and bistro.
Throughout his visits, Shortie has been delighted to meet with tourists and locals, handing out around 16,460 delicious handcrafted shortbread samples and capturing over 900 selfies along the way.
Bill Dean, Managing Director of Dean’s explained “Shortie and the Dean’s brand have enjoyed a whistle stop tour of Scotland, taking in everything from the Edinburgh Fringe festival, to Highland games and monster spotting on Loch Ness! I’m sure my mother never thought that her recipes would still be in production after 40 years or that a giant shortbread finger would be out and about, touring the country to mark this special occasion. The whole team at Dean’s have loved hearing about Shortie’s journey and we look forward to a successful future!”