Scotland vote could boost shortbread sales, Walker's U.S. CEO in Hauppauge hopes

A Scottish shortbread purveyor with a Long Island outpost hopes to get a sales boost from Thursday's high-profile independence vote in Scotland.

The media frenzy over the referendum "just raises the profile of Scotland as a country," said Steve Dawson, chief executive of Walkers Shortbread's U.S. division. "I think Americans are just waking up to this debate, so maybe there will be an uptick in sales after the vote rather than before."

With British reserve, the Oxford-born Dawson added, "but I really have no idea. It's just speculation."

So far, he said, there has been no impact.

Walkers' distinctive red-tartan packages of shortbread, oatcakes and other treats are sold in 40 percent of American supermarkets, as well as club stores, Target and Walmart, Dawson said.

The company -- now run by brothers James and Joseph Walker, the third generation of family ownership -- employs 20 people at its U.S. sales and distribution center in Hauppauge, and 1,500 in the Scottish Highlands, where all the products are baked, Dawson said. The family has taken no public stand on the referendum, which will determine whether Scotland breaks away from the United Kingdom.

"Will it bring out some desire for Scottish foods? I'd be shocked to hear that, but you never know," said Harry Balzer, chief food industry analyst for Port Washington-based NPD Group.

Walkers' products are distributed to 80 countries, with exports making up 40 percent of sales. Shortbread used to be a "quintessentially Scottish" Christmas treat when sugar was scarce and costly, but in the last 20 years or so, the buttery cookies have become a year-round indulgence sold around the world, Dawson said.

The company now boasts that its products are kosher, as well as free of preservatives, and artificial colors and flavors; a gluten-free version is due to be launched within weeks, Dawson said.

Walkers maintains a low profile on Long Island, with few residents aware that the company's U.S. arm is based here, Dawson said.

"I don't think they know, and I don't think they would care if they knew," said Dawson, who splits his time between homes in Northport and Connecticut. "The important thing is that everything we sell is baked in the Highlands of Scotland."