The Smith's Snackfood Company

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The Smiths Snackfood Company
Company type Proprietary company
Industry Food
Founded1920;104 years ago (1920) in Cricklewood, England (UK branch).
13 May 1932;92 years ago (13 May 1932) (Australia branch)
Founders
  • Frank Smith
  • Jim Viney
  • George Ensor
Headquarters
Chatswood
,
Australia
Area served
Oceania
United Kingdom
Products Snack foods, potato chips
Parent PepsiCo
Website smiths-chips.com.au

The Smith's Snackfood Company is a British-Australian snack food brand owned by the American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation PepsiCo. It is best known for its brand of potato crisps. The company was founded by Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom in 1920 as Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd, originally packaging a twist of salt with its crisps in greaseproof paper bags which were sold around London. [1] The dominant brand in the UK until the 1960s when Golden Wonder took over with Cheese & Onion, Smith's countered by creating Salt & Vinegar flavour (first tested by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor) which was launched nationally in 1967. [2]

Contents

After establishing the product in the UK, Smith set up the company in Australia in 1932. Both versions of Smiths have had various owners, but were reunited under PepsiCo ownership, with the UK business being purchased in 1989, and the Australian business in 1998. [3] Smith's Snackvend Stand is the branch of the company that operates vending machines. [4] The Smith's brand in the United Kingdom is now a sub-brand to the main Walkers brand, while in Australia, Smiths is the main brand.

United Kingdom

An early Smith's advertisement Old smiths potato chips ad.jpg
An early Smith's advertisement

Smith's Potato Crisps was formed by entrepreneurs Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom after World War I. [5] Smith had been a manager for a Smithfield wholesale grocery business which sold potato crisps from 1913. Deciding to make his own, Smith converted garages in Cricklewood, London into a crisp factory, selling to local businesses. By 1920, he had 12 full-time employees and was producing half a million packets a week. [5] Smith conceived the idea of selling unseasoned potato crisps with a small blue sachet of salt that could be sprinkled over them. [6] In 1927, after buying Jim Viney's share of the business, the company expanded into a factory in Brentford, London. In 1929, Smiths had seven factories in the UK and the following year it was incorporated as a private limited company. [7] By 1934, 200 million packets of crisps were sold in Britain each year, 95 percent of which were manufactured by Smith's. In 1939, the footballers of Portsmouth won the last FA Cup final before the war on a daily diet of Smith's crisps. [5] During World War II, crisps were packed into British troop ships and sent off to allied forces. [5] In the 1950s, fictional matriarch Doris Archer from BBC Radio's The Archers published a cookbook advocating the use of “delicious Smith's potato crisps, crushed to farthing size” in various meals. [5]

By 1956, the company was making 10 million packets every week. In 1960, Smith's purchased northern rival Tudor Crisps for £1 million. [8] [9] Smith's followed up this expansion two years later by purchasing the biscuit and wafer producer, G & T Bridgewater and the Cardiff based nut company Snackpak Food Products. [10] Following the creation of Cheese & Onion flavour by Tayto in Ireland, Golden Wonder (Smiths' main competitor in Britain) produced their Cheese & Onion version, and Smith's countered with Salt & Vinegar (tested first by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor) which launched nationally in 1967, starting a two-decade-long flavour war. [2] [11]

Quavers cheese flavour. Introduced by Smith's in the United Kingdom in 1968, they are now produced by Walkers Quavers packet.jpg
Quavers cheese flavour. Introduced by Smith's in the United Kingdom in 1968, they are now produced by Walkers

In 1966, Smith's was purchased by the American food producer, General Mills. [12] Smith's launched a ‘Do The Crunch' advertising campaign; in 1967 a young Phil Collins toured the UK teaching people the crunch dance. [13] Aimed at children, Monster Munch were launched by Smiths in Britain in 1977. Originally called "The Prime Monster" (a play on The Prime Minister, and as part of a wider campaign), they were renamed "Monster Munch" in 1978. [14] In 1978, Smith's was sold by its parent company, General Mills to the British biscuit giant Associated Biscuits. [15]

Associated Biscuits was purchased by Nabisco in 1982, bringing Smith's under the same ownership as rival Walkers. [16] In 1988, RJR Nabisco was purchased in a leverage buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and to reduce debt several business were sold to French conglomerate BSN, who quickly sold on Smith's and Walkers to PepsiCo in 1989. [17] [18] At the time Walkers had a third of the crisp market in the United Kingdom, while Smith's had a third of the extruded snacks market, making them the market leader. [19] Subsequently, Pepsico withdrew the brand, in favour of British brand Walkers, which was heavily marketed by PepsiCo in a campaign using former England international footballer turned television presenter Gary Lineker. [20] Many of the products previously marketed by Smith's became labelled as Walkers, such as Quavers.

Current products

Australia

After establishing the product and name in the UK, Frank Smith moved to set up a subsidiary in Australia. [22] Smith's Crisps were first manufactured in Australia in 1931 with an associate, George Ensor, in leased premises in Sydney's Surry Hills. They were originally made in 20 gas fired cooking pots, then packed by hand and distributed by Nestle confectionery vans. [23]

Smith's Potato Crisps sold its early crisps in three penny packets, 24 to a tin. "Twist of salt" sachets were included before pre-salting had been introduced. In March 1932, Smith's Potato Crisps Ltd. went into voluntary liquidation as a result of the Great Depression. However, three months later, George Ensor tendered for the business put up for sale by the liquidators, and on 13 May 1932, Smith's Potato Crisps (Australia) was formed with the UK Smith's Company holding a majority interest over minor shareholders. Growth after World War II was rapid, so a continuous cooker process was introduced to replace the individual cooking pots and in 1960 the production of a one shilling pack for cinemas and a box pack for four shillings was initiated.

In 1961, Smith's introduced its first flavoured chip - chicken. It was a very popular flavour, influencing most competitors at the time to adopt a Chicken variation. Other flavours released were Original (Pre-Salted) and Salt & Vinegar. Later, in the 1970s, Barbecue was added as a flavour for Smiths crinkle cut chips, and in the 1980s Cheese & Onion was added. These five flavours - Original Salted (blue packet), Salt & Vinegar (magenta packet), Chicken (green packet), Barbecue (orange packet) and Cheese & Onion (yellow packet) have remained the mainstay flavours of the brand since the 1980s. Many other 'limited edition' variants have also been tried over the years. During the late 1980s, the company introduced the famous advertising mascot Gobbledok, a chip obsessed alien character similar to the popular characters E.T. and ALF. [24] [25]

In 1968, Associated Products and Distribution Pty Ltd (APD), the food group holding company in British Tobacco Co. (Aust), bought a 41.5% share of Smith's Potato Crisps (Australia)'s parent company, including all Australian shareholders. Over the next 20 years, other takeovers and new products (including Twisties and Burger Rings brands) drove growth. PepsiCo took over the company in 1998. In 1990, the APD name was replaced by CCA Snackfoods.[ citation needed ]

In 1998, the Smiths Snackfood company was Australia's largest producer of salty snack foods. It was acquired in August of that year, by Frito-Lay the second largest producer of salt snack foods in Australia, which is owned by PepsiCo. To prevent the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission from intervening for unfair trading practices Frito-Lay divested a range of brands, manufacturing facilities, including plants in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The package was named Snack Brands Australia and was sold to Dollar Sweets Holdings. In that package included the brands sold were CC's, Cheezels, Thins and Samboy.

Despite Australians using the term "chips" for crisps, Smith's called their product crisps until as late as 2003. They are now labelled as Smith's Chips. [26] As of 2010–2011, portions contained in "large" bags of Smith's Snackfood products have diminished, down from 200g to 175g (approximately equal to the previous 1975 large size of 6½oz). [27]

Recalls

Products produced by The Smith's Snackfood Company have been recalled on several occasions including:

Misleading representation of products

In July 2016, The Smith's Snackfood Company was fined $10,800 by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for misleading representation on its Sakata Paws Pizza Supreme Rice Snacks, which included a logo with the words “Meets School Canteen Guidelines” and an image of a sandwich and apple. The disclaimer that the product had only met the 'Amber' criteria of the National Healthy School Canteens Guidelines were in small font and on the other side of the packaging to the logo. Smith's has since removed the logo from the product. [33]

Current products

Previous products in UK & Australia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potato chip</span> Deep-fried or baked thin slice of potato

A potato chip or crisp is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The basic chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, other natural flavors, artificial flavors, and additives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hula Hoops</span> Snack food made from potatoes and corn

Hula Hoops are a snack food made out of potatoes and corn in the shape of short, hollow cylinders. Created by KP Snacks in the United Kingdom in 1973. As well as being sold in the UK, they are also sold in the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Hula Hoops are also sold in Belgium under the "Croky" tag, made in the UK but marketed and distributed from Mouscron, Belgium. In France, Hula Hoops are produced by Vico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quavers</span> British crisp brand

Quavers are a deep-fried potato-based British snack food. Launched in the UK in 1968, they were originally made by Smith's in their factory on Newark Road in the Bracebridge area of Lincoln. Since 1997 they have been produced by Walkers. The name comes from the musical note, quaver.

Tayto Snacks is a crisps and popcorn manufacturer in Ireland, founded by Joe Murphy in May 1954 and owned by German snack food company Intersnack. It owns several brands, including its leading product of Tayto Crisps for which it invented the first flavoured crisp production process. The first seasoned crisps produced were Cheese & Onion. Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique. Tayto crisps are a cultural phenomenon throughout Ireland, so much so that in November 2010, Tayto opened their own theme park called "Tayto Park" near Ashbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dutch Foods</span> Snack food manufacturer based in Roseville, Minnesota and Winnipeg, Manitoba

Old Dutch Foods, Inc. is a manufacturer of potato chips and other snack foods in the Midwestern United States, New England and Canada. Their product line includes brands such as Old Dutch Potato Chips, Dutch Crunch, Ripples, Cheese Pleesers and Restaurante Style Tortilla Chips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Wonder</span> British snack food company

Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably crisps. These include Ringos, Golden Wonder and Transform-A-Snack. Since 2006, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northern Irish company Tayto, purchased from administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twisties</span> Australian snack food

Twisties are a type of cheese curl corn-based snack food product, available mainly in Australia, and other Oceanian countries such as Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, the Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, and the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They are also available in Europe, but marketed as Fonzies, and in France as "Belin Croustilles". It was launched in 1950 by the General Foods Corporation. The brand name is owned by The Smith's Snackfood Company. While originally an Australian-owned company, Smith's was acquired in August 1998 by Frito-Lay, the second largest producer of snack foods in Australia, which in turn is owned by American multi-national PepsiCo. In Malaysia, Twisties is a product of Mondelēz International, after having been a part of Danone and later, Kraft Foods previously. In Thailand, the Twisties trademark is owned by Lay's, which like The Smith's Snackfood Company, is owned by PepsiCo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burger Rings</span> Australian snack

Burger Rings are a type of corn-based, burger-flavoured Australian snack food distributed by The Smith's Snackfood Company, which, in turn is owned by PepsiCo.

Cheezels are a brand of Australian snack food currently produced by Snack Brands Australia. Made from corn and rice, they are a crisp puffy ring with a strong, savoury cheddar cheese flavour and aroma. They are similar in texture to cheese puffs, American Cheetos, or Canadian Cheezies.

Thins is one of the largest brands of savoury snack potato chips currently available in Australia, and is owned by Snack Brands Australia. The snack food is a thinly-sliced variety of potato chip (crisp) and comes in a variety of flavours, including Chicken, Original, Salt & Vinegar, BBQ Ribs,Cheese & Onion, Sour Cream & Chives and Light & Tangy. Thins compete chiefly with Smith's Thinly Cut, another thinly sliced potato chip, along with various crinkle cut brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monster Munch</span> Baked corn snack

Monster Munch are a British baked corn snack created by Smiths in 1977 and manufactured by Walkers. They are aimed at children and widely consumed in the United Kingdom. Flavours include Roast Beef, Pickled Onion and Sweet and Spicy Flamin' Hot.

Bluebird Foods Ltd is a New Zealand division of the U.S.-based PepsiCo corporation, that manufactures snack foods. All snacks are manufactured at the Bluebird Foods factory in Wiri, Auckland.

Tudor Crisps was a brand of potato crisps produced by Tudor Food Products. The business was started in Sunderland during 1947, and it supplied crisps to the North East of England and Scotland regions, claiming two thirds of the market in these regions. The company was purchased by Smiths Crisps in 1960. The brand continued under the ownership of Smith's by General Mills, Associated Biscuits and Nabisco, but was ended after PepsiCo purchased Smith's in 1989, and concentrated on the Walkers brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCoy's (crisp)</span> UK crisps brand

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkers (snack foods)</span> British snack food manufacturer

Walkers Snack Foods Limited, trading as Walkers, is a British snack food manufacturer mainly operating in the UK and Ireland. The company is best known for manufacturing potato crisps and other snack foods. In 2013, it held 56% of the British crisp market. Walkers was founded in 1948 in Leicester, England, by Henry Walker. The Walkers family sold the business in 1970 to American food producer, Standard Brands. In 1989, Walkers was acquired by PepsiCo, owners of US snack brand Frito-Lay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frito-Lay</span> American company producing snack foods

Frito-Lay, Inc. is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips, Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Rold Gold pretzels, and Walkers potato crisps. Each brand generated annual worldwide sales over $1 billion in 2009.

Real Crisps is a crisp brand. The company was founded in 1997, and expanded over the following decade to become a business turning over £15 million a year. In 2007, it was purchased by the Northern Ireland-based crisp manufacturer Tayto. In 2012, a fire caused the destruction of the 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) Real Crisp factory in Crumlin, Caerphilly. There are a range of flavours produced, and the company ran a limited edition political themed range prior to the 2010 United Kingdom general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toobs</span> Australian snack food

Toobs are a brand of Australian snack food, first created in 1954 by Albert Cranum, and owned and sold by the British Australian company The Smith's Snackfood Company, trading as "Smith’s". The potato-based flavoured snack took their name from the characteristic shape of the crisps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squares (crisps)</span> Brand of snack food

Squares formerly known as Square and Square Crisps are a British brand of square-shaped crisps made by Walkers, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. They were originally made by The Smith's Snackfood Company.

References

  1. ↑ "Potato Crisps - A History". BBC. 7 December 2006. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Channel 4 documentary tells dramatic story of how Corby's huge crisp factory changed the world of snacks - and how it exploded". Northampton Chronicle . Retrieved 23 April 2022. This is when Smith's hit back with their own revolutionary flavour — salt and vinegar, inspired by the country's love for fish & chips.
  3. ↑ Northwestern journal of international law & business. p. 277.
  4. ↑ Hospitality Foodservice. p. 36.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Crisps buoyed Britain in its darkest hour'". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "So long, salt and vinegar: how crisp flavours went from simple to sensational". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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  8. ↑ "Smith's Crisps". Investors Chronicle. Vol. 216. 1962. p. 15.
  9. ↑ "Smith's purchase". The Economist. Vol. 194. 1960. p. 1020.
  10. ↑ The Bedside Guardian. 1975. p. 175.
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  13. ↑ Gallo, Armando (1978). Genesis: The Evolution of a Rock Band. Sidgwick and Jackson Limited. p. 120
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  27. ↑ size is 170gKollmorgen, Andy (8 July 2015). "Three chips short of a full pack". www.choice.com.au. Choice . Retrieved 10 September 2015.
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  31. ↑ "The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited — Smith's Salt & Vinegar Crinkle Cut Chips 45g, 90g and 170g". www.productsafety.gov.au. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  32. ↑ "Smith's Original and Cheese and Onion Chips". www.foodstandards.gov.au. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  33. ↑ "Unilever and Smith's pay penalties for misleading healthy food representations". Australian Competition & Consumer Commission . 11 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
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Further reading

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