Scott's Porage Oats is a Scottish breakfast cereal (a brand of

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

) sold in the United Kingdom. The former Scott's Company was established in Glasgow by A&R Scott, two brothers who made a partnership to manufacture

oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...

products. Scott's was purchased by

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

in 1982.

History of the brand

Porridge has been consumed in Scotland as a staple food since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and is primarily consumed in the winter. A&R Scott began producing Scott's Midlothian Oat Flour in 1880, in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, moving to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1909, and the distinctive name, Scott's Porage Oats, was adopted in 1914. They have been milled at the Uthrogle Mills at

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland, since 1947. In 1982, A&R Scott was purchased by Quaker Oats Ltd, one of their main competitors. The company was based in Edinburgh.

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

merged with the Quaker Oats Company in 2001. Sales of porridge oats continue to be higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, with Scott's Porage Oats taking the highest brand share. The company holds a Scott's Porage Oats Food & Drink Fair at the St Andrews Festival in November each year at the Byre Theatre. It has a '' Golden Spurtle Award'' for competitive porridge making.

Description and preparation

The oats are rolled thicker than standard oats and are gently kilned to create what the company considers to be "the truest taste". Scott's oats can be made into porridge either in the microwave or on a stovetop, with the addition of milk or water and other flavourings (typically salt or sugar). Oats can also be used in stews, in the topping for fruit

crumble A crumble (British English) or crisp (American English) is a dessert with a crumbly cake-like topping, sometimes with oats, baked over a fruit filling. Apple and rhubarb are two popular varieties. Savoury fillings such as meat, cheese or vege ...

or haddock pie, and in

cookies A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

or flapjacks, and in many other recipes. Some packs come with a number of suggested recipes.

Advertising

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, Scott's Porage Oats ran a successful UK advertising campaign on cinema and television featuring the actor Rory McCann in a kilt and actress Rebecca Godwin as his admirer. Rory McCann, a former

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

, subsequently made many public appearances and is widely seen as the "face" of Scott's Porage Oats. Rory McCann was featured in the television adverts for the porridge, whilst the image on the box was originally based on Jay Scott, a world highland games champion who lived on the island of Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond, that his family still own. After moving to a farm on the shores of the loch, he died due to complications from an accident on his tractor.

Other British brands

The following additional brands come under the Quaker Oats umbrella: * Oatso Simple *

* Scott's So Easy

References

External links

* {{PepsiCo Quaker Oats Company cereals Scottish cuisine Scottish brands