John Callum Ltd 1908 - to date.

A family run business built on quality of product and service to our much valued customers.

John Callum started as a family business in 1908 by delivering potatoes around the Stirling and district area to all available outlets, including shops, restaurants and hotels by means of horse and cart. The company was taken over and run by brothers Jim and Dave Dow after the Second World War and they ran it from their premises, originally at Stirling Railway Station, and laterally from Forth Street, Stirling. The brothers also farmed in Auchterarder from where they bred and showed pedigree cattle with some success as well as growing their potatoes for their own retail use.

The Dow brothers eventually retired from the business in 1986 when Dave sold the Forth Street premises to a property developer and Jim (who was actually a Bank Manager throughout his working life) decided to call it a day.

The business at the time was primarily selling potatoes to grocer's shops and the odd chip shop.

In 1986 P Stewart Miller bought the business and relocated to a temperature controlled warehouse in Bandeath Industrial Estate from which it still operates to this day.

The last 25 years have seen a massive change in the industry, caused mainly by the market domination of supermarkets and the changing methods of customer shopping.

The business has moved from what was primarily a retail business supplying grocer's shops with all kinds of potatoes, ie loose, pre-packed, washed etc, into one that wholly supplies the chip shop trade.

The supply source has also undergone massive change from one that used mainly local produce to one which brings all its produce up from the Eastern Counties of England . The reason for this is that the potatoes from the Eastern Counties are grown in much warmer conditions throughout their whole growing life and as such have a much better dry matter content (21-23%) which is crucially important for fry quality. The optimum dry matter content the better the fry colour, taste, yield etc.

Over the years the company has taken over the retail side of William Graham (Kirkintilloch), Thomas Anderson (Methill) and Angus MacPherson (Arbroath) which today gives it great coverage and the ability to deliver from Stonehaven in the north, east coast of Fife in the east and Glasgow in the south.