Macsween Black Pudding Gets Healthy Steam Treatment

Macsween of Edinburgh, the leading food brand, is launching a black pudding that can be steamed in the microwave for 90 seconds.

Aimed at consumers looking for a hearty and convenient dish, the 90-second black pudding follows on from the success of Macsween’s microwaveable and haggis products, launched in 2010.

The 90-second black pudding is proudly traditional with its compliment of barley, wheat, onion and seasoning while being light in texture and low in calories and fat.

Jo Macsween, director of the company, said: "The success of our microwavable haggis encouraged us to revisit our well-respected black pudding.

"My brother James and I spent many hours trying new recipes and we talked to our customers and ran lots of tastings before the new Macsween black pudding emerged.

"It’s tasty and lightly textured and perfect for the health-conscious black pudding traditionalist."

Macsween made good use of formal research and informal contact through its social media channels to test the market and get a reaction to the product. This showed the company that there was a demand for a convenient, microwaveable black pudding, along the lines of its existing product range.

The new recipe reflects Jo and James Macsween's desire to make their products appeal to a much wider consumer base, an ambition they are achieving. Independent research has shown that in 2010, the company convinced 75,000 consumers to try haggis for the first time.

All the indications are that these consumers are sticking with Macsween, as they can use haggis in any number of dishes throughout the year, whether microwaved or prepared in the usual fashion.

The company hopes that its black pudding will be as equally enticing. The Macsween 90-second black pudding was launched at the Royal Highland Show, and will appear on the shelves in Asda’s Scottish stores from September 2011.

Macsween is confident that other outlets will follow later in the year.

More new food product launches from Scotland.