Scotts Crispy Onions

Company background

Scotts Family Business was established in 1955 by Sydney B. Scott and has a long-standing history of supplying fresh fruit and vegetables to retail, foodservice and hospitality sectors across the local area.

In 2012, Richard Scott, having grown up in the family business decided to expand the company’s operations by founding Scotts Crispy Onions, building on the legacy of innovation within the organisation. This new venture marked a significant development, with the company becoming the first in the UK and Ireland to cook, package, and retail crispy fried onions entirely in-house.

Since launching this product, the company has focused on continuous innovation and product development, introducing a growing range of flavours designed to meet diverse consumer preferences. The team remains committed to quality, consistency and customer satisfaction.

Challenge

As part of their ongoing efforts to expand their product range, Scotts Crispy Onions wanted to develop crispy jalapeños as part of the Invest NI Innovation Voucher Programme. However, they required upskilling support from NWRC Foodovation Centre to make this a reality.

Solution

Recognising the need for support in bringing their new product to market, Scotts decided to collaborate with the NWRC Foodovation Centre.

Clara Brogan, Food Technologist and Technical Consultant at NWRC, worked closely with Scotts to help ensure a successful launch. Her support included recipe development and standardisation, ingredient sourcing, implementation of HACCP procedures to ensure food safety, product labelling, as well as microbiological and organoleptic testing to confirm the product’s viability for market launch.

Scotts hope to continue their innovation and upskilling journey with future plans to obtain a second innovation voucher from Invest Northern Ireland.

Impact

Scotts has successfully developed and launched its crispy jalapeños to market, marking an exciting milestone in the company’s product innovation journey. What began as a concept has evolved into a unique offering that has already begun to capture consumer interest. The feedback so far has been highly encouraging, suggesting strong potential for growth and continued success in this new product line.

Future

Column Mc Millian, Sales and Business Development Manager of Scotts described the benefits of working with NWRC’s Foodovation Centre via the Invest NI Innovation Voucher Programmes: ”Working with the Foodovation Centre through the Invest NI Innovation Voucher Programme has been a huge benefit for us. The team helped us refine our product, improve texture and flavour, and achieve an extended shelf life. These were all crucial in bringing our crispy jalapeños successfully to market. Their expertise and support made the process faster and more effective and the collaboration meant we ended up with a stronger product overall. I would especially like to thank Clara Brogan who went above and beyond to help us reach our goal. Her support and guidance were a big part of why this project was such a success!”