Burns Night Approaches – Scottish Haggis Sales Soar

Sales of Scottish haggis have soared as countries across the world are competing to host the largest number of Burns Suppers using a dedicated site created as part of Homecoming Scotland 2009.

Jo Macsween of McSween’s Haggis said: ‘Haggis sales are always at their peak in January and we are anticipating 2009 as being the best year yet as Burns and Haggis are synonymous to many. This said, UK sales have increased all year as haggis is used as a versatile ingredient, for everything from lasagne to pies.

"Haggis offers a great option for any celebration, not just Burns night, but the 650 or so Burns Night organisers who are already part of the Homecoming celebrations had better put their orders in quick!”

Food Secretary Richard Lochhead added: “Haggis is a truly iconic Scottish dish and today’s figures are particularly pleasing in the run-up to what could be the biggest ever Burns night.

“Homecoming 2009 will be an opportunity to showcase quality Scottish food and drink to a wider audience and I would encourage Scotland’s producers to take advantage of the occasion.”

Homecoming Scotland in partnership with The Famous Grouse, have created The World Famous Burns Supper Celebration which aims to create a world record in joining as many Burns Suppers as possible to celebrate Scotland’s international icon.

People are being challenged to break a world record such as that of Chris Dunlop, a Scottish mountaineer, who held the highest ever Burns Supper on top of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina last year. This year Chris plans to again have the highest supper but this time on home turf at the top of Ben Nevis, in tribute to the bard and Scotland’s Year of Homecoming.

Scotland is currently leading the party with more than 148 Burns suppers planned throughout the country, closely followed by the United States who are munching through 103. Out of just over 650 suppers registered so far, England will address 62 haggis, Canada could be reciting the Immortal Memory 42 times and France will be toasting the bard at six events, all identified on the site’s global, interactive map. Kazakhstan and Vietnam have still to spread the word but also join in the global Burns celebration.

Some of the more unusual Burns supper plans in 2009 include a supper on the highest structure in the CN Tower, Toronto, the most chilled out supper hosted by a Clan Chief on Balmoral Beach in Australia and possibly the most remote being in the Eastern part of Bolivia held by the Scientific Exploration Society. The scariest Burns supper will be in Edinburgh Dungeon and there are plenty of records still to be broken.

Burns Night is already celebrated throughout the world. The works of Burns are taught in Russian schools and Russia claims to have more Burns clubs than Scotland. Ljubljana in Slovenia also toasts Scotland’s bard with their literary counterpart, Prešeren at the Society of Slovenian Scottish Friendship’s annual Burns Preseren Supper, not to mention the Bhatti family in Sialkot, Pakistan who cherish the Burns Supper tradition and have made bagpipes for four generations.

Shirley Bell of The World Burns Federation said: “The Robert Burns World Federation is delighted that people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe are able to participate in the many splendid Homecoming events taking place during 2009.”

“As we raise a glass to toast the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns at Suppers throughout the world let us all remember of the Poet’s dream of a universal brotherhood aptly penned in his own words that “Man to man the world o’er shall brithers be for a’ that”.