Walker’s Shortbread suffered a tough year in 2025 as soaring butter prices and Donald Trump’s tariff war squeezed sales for the Scottish brand.
The company saw sales fall 2% to £197m in the year to 31 December with the “most evident and impactful” drop coming in the US.
A 10% tariff on imports into the US from Scotland, combined with skyrocketing butter prices, deterred many American shoppers from indulging in the Scottish shortbread.
Walker’s MD, Nicky Walker, said while the business was prepared for market headwinds and tough trading conditions, “the unprecedented convergence of US tariffs, shifting customer inventory patterns, continued governmental wage regulations and a significant double-digit percentage increase in wholesale butter prices impacted our bottom line”.
Anne Robinson, the owner of Scottish Gourmet USA, a small business selling Walker’s Shortbread in North Carolina, told the BBC last year the tariffs meant a box had grown at least $1 more expensive.
“At some point, consumers will not buy a box of Scottish shortbread at $10 when American-made Lorna Doone shortbread sells for $5-$6.”
Walker’s pre-tax profits more than halved to £8.8m from £18m a year earlier as the company absorbed many of the price increases from rising butter and energy prices.
Meanwhile, ongoing labour shortages drove wage prices higher and meant Walker’s was forced to use more premium-paid overtime hours.
“While the external trading environment remains both challenging and complex, particularly regarding geopolitical factors and sector-wide labour availability, we are managing this from a position of historic strength,” Walker added.
“We continue to focus on the areas within our control and driving operational efficiency and maintaining an unwavering investment in our brand and our people is of paramount importance and we remain highly confident in the future of the business.”
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