Kinloss to New York: The Scottish baker preparing for Scotland's World Cup summer

FOR most Scottish football fans, the 2026 World Cup means crossing an ocean.

For Francis Legge, it means watching Scotland arrive in the city he has called home for the last quarter of a century.

The founder of New York-based Shortbread Society grew up in Kinloss, Moray, before building a new life in the United States.

Now, as Scotland competes at a World Cup hosted across North America, he finds himself in a unique position: a Scot abroad preparing to welcome fellow supporters to America, while carrying a piece of Scotland with him every day through the business he built with his wife, Christine.

"I'm so excited," he says. "The final is basically a couple of miles from my apartment, which feels surreal. To have Scotland in America during that moment is massive for Scottish people living here."

Francis's story began far from the bright lights of Manhattan.

Moray to Manhattan

Raised in Kinloss, he grew up surrounded by family, hard work and community. His family owned a garden centre and landscaping business.

"I grew up around flowers, soil, baking, tea and very hardworking people," he says.

Although he has spent decades in New York, Scotland remains deeply woven into his identity.

"Scotland never leaves you, really," he says.

"The accent softens slightly in New York, then one Scottish person walks past and suddenly it comes flying back out."

What he misses about Scotland

Like many Scots who have built lives overseas, there are small things he misses most. The humour. The sea air. Proper rolls and square sausage. But above all, it is the people.

"Scotland has a very specific warmth hidden underneath the sarcasm," he says.

That sense of Scottish identity remains central to the business he runs today.

Shortbread Society began during the uncertainty of the Covid pandemic.

What started as a small venture built around secret pre-order pop-up events in New York eventually grew into a business shipping luxury shortbread across the United States and Canada.

The company was built by Francis and Christine together, with baking, design, packaging and creativity all becoming part of a shared vision.

Looking back, however, the roots of the business stretch much further than Covid.

Years earlier, after tasting one of his homemade Millionaire's Shortbread creations, Christine told him that one day it would become their family business. Eventually, that prediction became reality.

Shortbread recipe with family roots

Millionaire's Shortbread is more than a bestseller. For Francis, it is a connection to his grandmother and the lessons she taught him at a kitchen table in Kinloss.

"She taught me every layer properly and why each one mattered," he says.

"The shortbread had to be buttery and delicate, the caramel needed patience or it would split, and the chocolate layer had to snap perfectly when cut."

Those lessons extended beyond baking.

"Millionaire's Shortbread teaches patience," he says. "It's not rushed baking. Every layer depends on the one underneath it being right first."

Today, that philosophy continues to guide the business, even as it experiments with hundreds of flavours and ideas.

New York led to new ideas

The Big Apple has undoubtedly influenced his creativity.

Francis describes the city as a place that celebrates originality and rewards bold thinking. It has pushed him to take risks and develop ideas that may never have emerged elsewhere.

Yet he believes the Scottish foundations remain visible beneath everything he creates.

"New York made me bolder creatively," he says. "But underneath everything I do, it's still deeply Scottish."

That connection between food and identity is something he feels strongly about.

While countries such as Italy and France have long been celebrated for their culinary traditions, he believes Scotland's food culture has often been overlooked despite the quality of its ingredients and recipes.

"Food is part of our identity," he says.

"Shortbread is culturally important to Scotland in the same way tartan or whisky is."

He sees Scottish food as a way of telling stories about heritage, family and place.

In New York, there is already a strong network of Scottish organisations and cultural groups helping keep those connections alive.

"The Scottish community here is small but has a huge heart," Francis says.

Groups such as the Caledonian Club, the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York and the Scottish American Society organise events throughout the year, creating opportunities for people to celebrate their heritage and maintain links with Scotland.

There is also a strong awareness of the historical role Scots played in shaping America. But for one week every year, that Scottish presence becomes impossible to miss.

During Tartan Week, New York transforms.

"The whole of New York feels Scottish for that week," Francis says. "Pipes echoing through Manhattan, tartan everywhere, parties, dinners, music – it's next level."

This summer, the World Cup offers another opportunity for that sense of national pride to take centre stage.

And for Francis, it offers something even more personal.

The boy who grew up in Kinloss is now watching Scotland compete in the world's biggest sporting event from the country he chose to call home.

And Francis hopes fans will experience not only the football, but also the wider Scottish community that exists throughout the country.

"We'd love to feed all the Scots when they come over," he says. "We're incredibly excited for the World Cup and so proud of Scotland for making it."

For one Scottish baker thousands of miles from Moray, the journey from Kinloss to New York has been remarkable. This summer, however, Scotland is coming to him.

📸 Francis Legge, Shutterstock