Heritage
In 1830 in the small Highland village of Callander in Perthshire, Donald Campbell baked his first trays of rich golden shortbread. Now over 180 years and six generations later, this internationally famous small village bakery is Scotland’s oldest bakery and it is still in the same Campbell family.
Until the 1960’s Campbells developed as a village bakery, serving the outlying communities with delivery vans but as the years rolled by an ever greater proportion of total sales was being generated by gift packed shortbread especially as Callander is situated in the stunningly beautiful Trossachs area.
Throughout this period there were many family bakeries throughout Scotland producing their own quality hand crafted regional shortbread.
As the 70’s dawned and the emphasis in the food industry moved away from craft to factory production and as the national companies became aware of the enormous market potential for what, alongside whisky, was seen as a Scottish ethnic product, the craft firms were pushed aside and the mass grocery market for shortbread eliminated all but two traditional family craft shortbread producers. Both family firms of which Campbells is one, are now thriving, although they have gone in different directions.
Campbells have concentrated on gift and seasonal lines using only the finest ingredients money can buy, and present their range of unique and original packaging suitable for the cream of international trade.
In the 1990’s Campbells built a brand new bakery using state of the art automated machinery to produce high volumes of product from a relatively small baker, with the emphasis on the highest possible product quality.
Now into the next millennium, Campbells continue their year on year expansion, servicing ever wider market sectors and an ever increasing number of countries internationally.
It is with full confidence that we look forward to a future as enduring and successful as the many years gone past.
