How Macsween finally got its haggis across the United States border

Scotland’s best-known edible product is banned from the United States of America, but well-known producer Macsween is celebrating its first export there for 50 years.

Burns Clubs across the States go to desperate lengths to simulate “the real Macsween”, with varying degrees of success, but the Edinburgh firm is now bringing them a perfectly legal alternative.

It’s called “Scottish Veggie Crumble”, otherwise known as vegetarian haggis.

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The tasty treat is now available in 14 different stores across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, in plenty of time for Burns Night.

Macsween reckoned it was well worth the trouble to export the brand in order to cater for the east coast’s burgeoning vegan market.

Macsween managing director James Macsween said: “Finally, Americans and the expat community can enjoy the UK’s most loved haggis brand known for its award-winning taste and texture.

“This is a huge milestone for Macsween to be expanding internationally and leading the way in plant-based food exports.

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“My grandfather, Charlie, would be very proud to see how far we’ve come from his original butcher’s shop in Bruntsfield which he opened back in 1953.

“My father John Macsween would also be proud as he invented the world’s first vegetarian haggis in 1984.”

Macsween has already sent 360 cases of “Scottish Veggie Crumble” to the US this month, and the iconic haggis producer is currently in the process of appointing a sales agent in the US to support its international expansion.

The US remains the top destination for Scottish goods, and in the year to September 2019 Scottish goods exports to the country were worth £4.3 billion.

This was an increase of 8 per cent on the previous year, with food and drink accounting for almost a third of exports.