 | |
| Product type | Crisps |
|---|---|
| Owner | Walkers |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1968 |
| Markets | United Kingdom |
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 Launched in the UK in 1968, they were originally made by Smith's in their factory on Newark Road in the Bracebridge area of Lincoln.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.
Quavers were launched in 1968 with the advertising slogan "you get a lovely lot of Quavers in a bag", described as "curly potato puffs". [1] The brand was originally sold in cheese and smoky bacon flavours, but over the years flavours like Spicy Beef, Sweet and Sour, Prawn Cocktail, and Ketchup were also part of the range.
In 1993, a Salt and Vinegar flavour was added to the range, and by this time, the packaging transitioned to the Walkers brand name.
Walkers, owned by PepsiCo, purchased the Quavers brand in July 1995, when it became one of the Frito Lay International brand names. [2]
In 1996, a Tangy Tomato flavour was added to the range. By 1997, the brand was part of Walkers' short-lived "Snackshack" range, and was relaunched twice in April 1998 and in March 1999. In October 1998, the first relaunch coincided with the return of Prawn Cocktail with a new recipe (as such, was branded as "New") replacing Tangy Tomato, while the second relaunch coincided with a newly refreshed Cheese flavour. Another packaging refresh took place in July 2000.
In August 2002, a "Streaky Bacon" flavour was added to the range, which contained pink and brown pieces, that resembled bacon. [3]
In September 2004, Ghost-shaped Cheese Quavers were released for Halloween, and returned in September 2005. [4]
In February 2007, Walkers changed the packaging for Quavers, Wotsits, Squares, French Fries and Monster Munch. This packaging reflected the usage of sunseed oil, which was used in all products. The Multipack bags were in a different layout, being in Landscape style. Quavers' logo was changed slightly, and the flavours remained the same. [5]
In December 2009, Quavers, Wotsits, Squares, and French Fries all changed their packaging again to coincide with a "99 Calories or Less" range with a consumers' focus on “New Year New Me”. [6] The Cheese flavour was reduced to 87 Calories for a standard pack.
In February 2011, Quavers packaging updated to a brighter bag colour with the Walkers logo on the packets again. After a while, the brand was sold in simply Cheese flavour.
In July 2013, the six-packs were reduced in size removing 30% of the wrapping but keeping the same amount of bags inside.
In August 2019, the packaging was updated alongside other Walkers Snacks, to inform about a reduction in plastic used on the packet.
In December 2020, Walkers announced that Prawn Cocktail and Salt and Vinegar would return to shelves in January 2021 due to popular demand.
Quavers are currently available in Cheese, Prawn Cocktail and Salt and Vinegar, but have had many other varieties over the years.
The primary ingredient in Quavers is potato starch. They are deep fried to give a snack with a similar texture to krupuk (prawn crackers), but have a different flavour and are smaller with a curled-up rectangle shape (similar in cross-section to a quaver). The product line went on to introduce two other flavours, prawn cocktail and salt and vinegar. [5] These were discontinued in 2012. Ketchup and sweet and sour flavours were also introduced, but for a limited time only and are no longer available. In January 2021, Quavers returns two long-lost flavours (prawn cocktail and salt & vinegar) by popular demand.
A one pack (16.4 g) serving of regular Quavers contains 88 calories, of which 44 are from fat. Quavers contain a mixture of fats (4.9g): saturated fat 0.4g, polyunsaturated fat 0.6g and monounsaturated fat 3.8g. The sodium content is 170mg. Quavers have 86 calories in their Cheese flavour and 83 in the salt and vinegar variety.
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.
Doritos is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay.
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.
Cheetos is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the United States. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company in 1961 to form Frito-Lay. In 1965 Frito-Lay became a subsidiary of The Pepsi-Cola Company, forming PepsiCo, the current owner of the Cheetos brand.
Bugles are a corn snack produced by General Mills and Tom's Snacks.
Ruffles is an American brand of crinkle-cut potato chips. The Frito Company acquired the rights to Ruffles brand potato chips in 1958 from its creator, Bernhardt Stahmer, who had adopted the trademark in 1948. Frito merged with H.W. Lay & Co. in 1961 to form Frito-Lay. In India, when this product was introduced in 1995, it was branded “Ruffles Lays”, though it would be renamed to Ruffles in the late 90s.
Wotsits is a British brand of cheese flavoured corn puffs sold first by Golden Wonder and now by Walkers Crisps. The most common form is the "Really Cheesy" flavour of corn puffs. Other shapes and flavours have also been sold, including: Wotsits Giants, Wotsits Flaming Hot, Wotsits Sizzling Steak, Wotsits Prawn Cocktail and Wotsits Crunchy. The brand name in the singular ("Wotsit") refers to an individual corn puff. It is an allusion to the slang term "whatsit", a placeholder name, to which it is phonetically identical in British speech.
Fritos is an American brand of corn chips and dipping sauces that was created in 1932 by Charles Elmer Doolin and has been produced since 1961 by the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo. Fritos are made by deep-frying extruded whole cornmeal, unlike the similar tortilla chips, which are made from cornmeal and use the nixtamalization process. It is one of two brands representing Frito-Lay along with Lay's.
Lay's is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the Frito-Lay company, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo since 1965.
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.
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. 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 which was launched nationally in 1967.
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.
Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods is an American food company, operating as a subsidiary of Old Dutch Foods, that packages and sells snack foods. The company is named after the nursery rhyme character and features the character as the company logo. Humpty Dumpty products are generally sold in New England, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
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 Flamin' Hot.
KP Snacks Limited is a British producer of branded and own-label maize-, potato-, and nut-based snacks, "Choc Dips" and nuts. The KP stands for “Kenyon Produce”. The company is based in Slough, England, UK.
McCoy's is a brand of crinkle-cut crisps made in the United Kingdom by KP Snacks. It was first produced in 1985 and is marketed under the slogan "The Real McCoy's – Accept No Imitations", exploiting the Scottish idiom "the real McCoy". McCoy's is the third biggest brand in the bagged crisps market, with 5 million packets consumed each week and nearly a third of all UK households consuming the product. It was once promoted by United Biscuits "as the only overtly male-targeted crisp brand".
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 (non-potato-based) 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.
Frito-Lay Canada, Inc., formerly the Hostess Frito-Lay Company, is a Canadian division of the U.S.-based Frito-Lay owned as a 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, Smartfood flavored popcorn and Rold Gold pretzels. The company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and has four production plants in Cambridge, Ontario; Lévis, Quebec; Kentville, Nova Scotia; and Taber/Lethbridge, Alberta.
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.
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