BON Accord was founded in 1909 by the Robb family in Arbroath. Originally named Robb Brothers, then Bon Accord, the crates of glass bottles were delivered to households across Scotland. The company was known for its bottles of Limeade, Pineapple and Red Cola. However, the business was slowly wound down as demand for home delivery of sugary fizzy drinks decreased. Karen Knowles, founder Thomas Robb’s great, great granddaughter and her business partner, Nathan Burrough, revived the brand in 2016 with a range of healthier, naturally sweetened soft drinks.
Names: Karen Knowles (33) and Nathan Burrough (39)
Positions: Brand owner and director
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
BON Accord Soft Drinks.
WHERE IS IT BASED?
EDINBURGH.
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
WE saw a gap in the market for healthier carbonated drinks. Bon Accord was set up by Karen’s great, great grandfather in the early 1900s. It was originally called Robb Brothers and then changed to Bon Accord. It delivered soft drinks to homes but the business wound down in 2000. In 2016 we decided to set the business up again and rebrand it. We both previously worked for the UK’s biggest seafood company so we are backers of the Scottish food industry. We have always known we wanted to do something for ourselves.
Our key USP is that we produce drinks that are sweetened naturally using ingredients like fruit juice, coconut nectar and honey. People are becoming more aware of the sugar content of soft drinks.
There has also been a rise in independent brands and craft soda in Scotland in the last few years. Fewer consumers are drinking alcohol as well and this fuels interest in soft drinks.
WHERE IS IT STOCKED?
WE are stocked in shops, restaurants and pubs all over Scotland – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Fife, Perthshire and the Scottish Borders.
We have plans to find more stockists at trade shows this year, like the Eat and Drink festival in Glasgow in May. We have successfully tapped into markets across Scotland. Talking to customers is really important to us because brand awareness is crucial as a small business. We attend business trade shows as well as consumer shows and have got four new potential stockists this year from those.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
THE brand has a really rich heritage and it is nice for us to say we are a family business. The company has tradition behind it and people remember it from the past. We see ourselves as pioneers of delicious and natural soft drinks. We wanted to create drinks that tasted good but were not full of sugar. – people say our drinks have amazing flavours. It’s a healthier choice because we use slow release sugar which stops you getting an energy spike.
It goes back to who we are as people and what sort of drinks we want to create.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
AS a start-up we were initially eager to consider everyone as a target market. However, now we focus on a more specific market.
We appeal to people who remember Bon Accord and also to health-conscious adult consumers. Our typical customer is someone looking for something a bit more special from a soft drink.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
WE have won a few awards since we set up. Our rhubarb soft drink got a Scotland Food and Drink award last year. We also have a Great Taste award on our cloudy lemonade. Great Taste is widely recognised by the public so that’s really useful for sales. We are growing and have taken on a full-time member of staff this year as well as an international manager so that is exciting. We have also started distributing in Denmark as of a few weeks ago. We went on three-day tour there to promote the brand. It’s great to see the business growing into international markets.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?
WE want to continue focusing on increasing our domestic and international market. We are entering markets across the world, for example, we are doing work in Italy at the moment. There are a lot of markets suited to our range and there’s a big opportunity in the export market.
We are both ambitious and want the company to grow.
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