Walkers Snack Foods Limited,[1]trading asWalkers, 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.[10] 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.[11] In 1989, Walkers was acquired by PepsiCo, owners of US snack brand Frito-Lay.[12][13]
The Walkers factory in Leicester, the largest crisp production plant in the world, produces over 11 million bags of crisps per day, using about 800 tons of potatoes.[14][15] According to the BBC television programme Inside the Factory, production of a bag of crisps takes approximately 35 minutes from the moment the raw potatoes are delivered to the factory, to the point at which finished product leaves the dispatch bay for delivery to customers.[16] The company produces a variety of flavours for its crisps. The three main varieties are: Cheese and Onion (introduced in 1954), Salt and Vinegar (introduced in 1967) and Ready Salted.[17] Other varieties include: Worcestershire Sauce, Roast Chicken, Prawn Cocktail, Smoky Bacon, Tomato Ketchup, and Pickled Onion.[18]
The Leicester-born former England international footballer Gary Lineker has been the face of the brand since 1995, featuring in most of its popular commercials and successful advertising campaigns. For the 2011 Comic Relief, four celebrities each represented four new flavours. The Walkers brand (under PepsiCo) sponsors the UEFA Champions League and the Super Cup for the UK and Irish markets. In 2019, Walkers reunited with the Spice Girls, with the 1990s girl band featuring in a campaign.[19]
Since 2008, Walkers has run its "Do Us a Flavour" campaign, challenging the British public to think up unique flavours for its crisps. Six flavours were chosen from among the entries and released as special editions. Consumers could vote on their favourite, and the winner would become a permanent flavour.[20] In 2018, Walkers launched six new flavours to celebrate the brand's seventieth birthday, with each flavour representing a different decade.[21]
History
In the 1880s, Henry Walker moved from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire to Leicester to take over an established butcher's shop in the High Street. Meat rationing in the UK after World War II saw the factory output drop dramatically, and so in 1948, Walkers & Sons starting looking at alternative products. Potato crisps were becoming increasingly popular with the public; this led managing director R.E. Gerrard to shift the company focus and begin hand-slicing and frying potatoes.[3][22]
Walkers factory in Swansea, Wales
Prior to the 1950s, crisps were sold without flavour; Smith's of London sold plain potato crisps which came with a small blue sachet of salt that could be sprinkled over them.[23] The first crisps manufactured by Walkers in 1948 were sprinkled with salt and sold for threepence a bag.[17] After Archer Martin and Richard Synge (while working in Leeds) received a Nobel Prize for the invention of partition chromatography in 1952, food scientists began to develop flavours via a gas chromatograph, a device that allowed scientists to understand chemical compounds behind complex flavours such as cheese.[24] In 1954, the first flavoured crisps were invented by Joe “Spud” Murphy (owner of the Irish company Tayto) who developed a technique to add cheese and onion seasoning during production.[25] Later that year, Walkers introduced Cheese and Onion (inspired by the Ploughman's lunch), and Salt and Vinegar was launched in 1967 (inspired by the nation's love of fish and chips).[17][23] The Walkers family sold the company in 1970 to the American food producer Standard Brands,[11] who in turn merged with another American food company Nabisco to form Nabisco Brands in 1981.[26] Prawn Cocktail flavour was introduced in the 1970s (inspired by the 1970s popular starter of prawn cocktail) and Roast Chicken (inspired by the nation's roast dinner).[17] In 1982, Nabisco purchased Associated Biscuits, owners of rival Smith's. 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.[27][28] 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.[29]
The Walkers logo, featuring a red ribbon around a yellow sun, is noticeably similar to Lay's and derives from the Walkers logo used in 1990.[30]Gary Lineker, the Leicester-born former footballer, has been involved in advertisements with the company since 1995. During the 90s, Walkers sold limited edition Salt and Lineker and Cheese & Owen crisps featuring the likenesses of Lineker and fellow footballer Michael Owen.[31][32] In 2000, Lineker's Walkers commercials were ranked ninth in Channel 4’s UK wide poll of "The 100 Greatest TV Ads".[33] The official website states that an estimated "11 million people will eat a Walkers product every day".[34] The company employs over 4,000 people in 15 locations around the UK.[35]
Front entrance to Walkers factory in Lincoln, England
In June 1999, PepsiCo transferred ownership of its Walkers brands out of Britain and into a Swiss subsidiary, Frito-Lay Trading GmbH.[36] Subsequently, according to The Guardian, the "UK tax authorities managed to claw back less than a third of what they might" have received had an unchanged structure continued producing the same sort of level of UK profits and tax as Walkers Snack Foods had in 1998.[36] In September 2001, Walkers ran a "Moneybags" promotion where £20, £10 and £5 notes were placed in special winning bags. However, two workers at a crisp factory were sacked after stealing cash prizes from bags on the production line.[37]
In February 2006, Walkers changed its brand label and typeset. It also announced it would reduce the saturated fat in its crisps by 70%.[38] It started frying its crisps in "SunSeed" oil, as claiming the oil is higher in monounsaturated fat content than the standard sunflower oil which it had used previously,[39] establishing its own sunflower farms in Ukraine and Spain to be able to produce sufficient quantities of the oil. Walkers updated its packaging style in June 2007, moving to a brand identity reminiscent of the logo used from 1998 to 2006.
Many of Walkers brands were formerly branded under the Smiths Crisps name. This comes from the time when Walkers, Smiths and Tudor Crisps were the three main brands of Nabisco's UK snack division, with Tudor being marketed mainly in the north of England and Smiths in the south. After the takeover by PepsiCo, the Tudor name was dropped, and the Smiths brand has become secondary to Walkers. The only products retaining the Smiths brand are Salt & Vinegar and Ready Salted Chipsticks, Frazzles and the "Savoury Selection", which includes Bacon Flavour Fries, Scampi Flavour Fries and Cheese Flavoured Moments. To promote the freshness of its products, Walkers began to package them in foil bags from 1993, then from 1996, began filling them with nitrogen instead of air.[40]
Quavers cheese flavour. Introduced by Smith's in 1968, they have been produced by Walkers since 1997
In 1997, Walkers became the brand name of Quavers and Monster Munch snacks. In January 1999, Walkers launched Max, a brand with a range of crisps and then a new-look Quavers in March 1999. In April 2000, another of the Max flavours called Red Hot Max was launched and then Naked Max in June 2000. In February 2000, a new-look Cheetos was relaunched, serving as the only cheesy snack in the UK. In July 2000, the Quavers packaging was updated. In March 2001, Squares crisps that had been marketed as Smith's, were rebranded under the Walkers brand. In November 2001, more Max flavours were introduced. They included chargrilled steak and chip shop curry.
In May 2002, Walkers launched Sensations. Sensations flavours include Thai Sweet Chilli, Roast Chicken & Thyme, Balsamic Vinegar & Caramelised Onion.[41] Walkers introduced the streaky bacon Quavers flavour to salt & vinegar and prawn cocktail in August 2002.
After buying the brand from Golden Wonder, Walkers has produced Wotsits since 2003
In January 2003, Smiths brand Salt 'n' Shake were relaunched under the Walkers identity. In January 2003 Walkers bought Wotsits from Golden Wonder, which replaced Cheetos during December 2002. In April 2004, Walkers launched a Flamin' Hot version of Wotsits, which replaced BBQ beef, and then Wotsits Twisted, a range of cheese puffs in July 2004. In September 2007, Walkers launched Sunbites, a healthier range of lower/better fat crisps made using whole grains.[42]
In July 2008, Walkers launched its "Do Us a Flavour" campaign, challenging the public to think up unique flavours for its crisps. In January 2009 six flavours were chosen from among the entries and released as special editions, available until May 2009. During this period, consumers could vote on their favourite, and the winner would become a permanent flavour.[20] The winner was Builder's Breakfast by Emma Rushin from Belper in Derbyshire. This flavour was discontinued a year later, in May 2010, in order for Walkers to focus on the upcoming 'Flavour Cup'.
In summer 2009, Walkers launched its premium "Red Sky" brand of "all natural" potato crisps and snacks.[43] It was stated that Red Sky products were made from 100% natural ingredients, and that the makers "work in partnership with Cool Earth", a charity that protects endangered rainforest; Walkers made charitable donations proportionate to the number of purchases of Red Sky snacks. Walkers discontinued the range in 2014 following poor sales.[44]
Variety of Walkers flavours from a vending machine
In April 2010, the company launched a promotional campaign entitled the Walkers Flavour Cup in order to locate the world's most loved and favourite flavour.[45] In the end, it was decided that the flavour with the most fans at the end of the tournament/competition would be declared the winner and ultimate champion of all flavours. Walkers encouraged people to engage in social media activity, and upload photos and videos to its website proving people's Superfan status of Walkers Crisps. The best fan from each of the 15 flavours won £10,000.[46] In the end, English roast beef & Yorkshire pudding won the Flavour Cup.[47]
For the 2011 Comic Relief, four celebrities (Jimmy Carr, Stephen Fry, Al Murray and Frank Skinner) each represented four new flavours.[48] In early 2013, Walkers revised its packaging, with a new design and typeface. Slogans such as 'Distinctively Salt & Vinegar' and 'Classically Ready Salted' were added to the front of packs. The previous packaging design had only existed for 12 months. Along with this packaging design, there came news that the company would begin using real meat products in its Smoky Bacon and Roast Chicken flavoured crisps.[49] This prompted opposition from vegetarians, vegans, Muslims and Jews, who were now unable to eat these flavours.
A Walkers delivery van emblazoned with "100% British potatoes"
In 2014, Lineker launched a new "Do Us a Flavour" Walkers competition, allowing the public to submit new flavours of crisps. Six flavours would be chosen and sold for the remainder of the year before a public vote selected a winner, with a prize of £1m.[50] The public had to pick one of Walkers' ingredients as a base – Somerset Cheddar, Devonshire chicken, Norfolk pork, Dorset sour cream, Vale of Evesham tomatoes and Aberdeen Angus beef – and create a new flavour using it.[50]
In 2015, Walkers launched the "Bring me Back" campaign, reintroducing Barbecue, Cheese and Chive, Beef and Onion, Lamb and Mint and Toasted Cheese flavours for a limited time. People voted on the Walkers website or used hashtags to see which flavour would be reintroduced permanently (Beef and Onion was chosen).[51] The Marmite flavour was also brought back permanently to coincide with the promotion.
On 10 April 2016, Walkers launched the Spell and Go promotion, again fronted by Gary Lineker. This competition caused some controversy as customers complained that it was impossible to win. The fairness of the competition was discussed on You and Yours, the consumer show on BBC Radio 4. Over 100 entrants complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, who after completing an investigation, decided that elements were misleading, and the competition was banned.[52]
Walkers appeared as the shirt sponsor of Leicester City, the brand's home-town football club, for 14 years. They also sponsored the club's stadium (pictured) from its opening in 2002 to 2011.
As of 2018, Walkers came under pressure from campaigners to change its packaging due to its contribution to litter and plastic pollution.[55] As part of the protest a marine biology student wore a crisp packet dress to her graduation. She claimed the dress was inspired by litter she had seen on a beach.[56] In September 2018, the Royal Mail appealed to customers to stop posting empty crisp packets to Walkers, which campaigners had asked people to do and "flood Walkers social media with pictures of us popping them in the post". Royal Mail was obliged by law to deliver the bags to Walkers' freepost address, but without envelopes they could not go through machines and had to be sorted by hand, causing delays.[57]
In December 2022, Walkers launched a UK-wide search for the best heart-shaped crisp with a £100,000 reward for one winner.[58] In January 2024, Walkers launched three limited edition vegan flavours for Veganuary. BBQ Pork Ribs, Grilled Cheese Toastie and Flame Grilled Steak.[59]
In March 2024, Walkers reintroduced their 1990s range of football themed crisps. Salt & Lineker was joined by Chicken Tackle Masala, Steak & Ale Pie-nalty, and Sweet Chili Kicker.[60] However, Walkers discontinued Worcestershire Sauce flavoured crisps at the same time.[61]
Product range
Core crisps
A packet of Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps. Uniquely for British crisps they are in a blue wrapper, while Walkers Salt & Vinegar are in a green wrapper; the opposite colour scheme for other brands of British crisps.
Walkers' most common flavours of regular crisp are Ready Salted (sold in a red packet), Salt & Vinegar (green), Cheese & Onion (blue), Smoky Bacon (maroon) and Prawn Cocktail (pink). Other flavours are sold in other coloured packets, such as Beef & Onion (brown) or Marmite (black). The unusual colours for Walkers packaging with Salt & Vinegar (in green, with other brands in blue), and Cheese & Onion (in blue, with other brands in green) has been debated in the UK, with some believing Walkers switched the colours; however, Walkers have stated that they have always had that colour scheme.[63] In 2021, actress Thandiwe Newton joked, "Salt 'n Vinegar is BLUE, and Cheese and Onion is GREEN. Ok? Enough with this foolishness."[63] The confusion can be attributed to Walker's rise to become the most popular brand in the UK (overtaking Golden Wonder, whose colour scheme people had become used to) after their acquisition by PepsiCo in the 1990s.[64]
Some flavours were made available for a short time either because they tied in with special promotions, or failed to meet sales expectations. Walkers' "Great British Dinner" range included baked ham & mustard and chicken tikka. A series of "mystery flavours" were launched in 2012, and later revealed to be sour cream & spring onion, Lincolnshire sausage & brown sauce, and Birmingham chicken balti.[65] In 2016, Walkers produced a limited edition 'Winners - Salt and Victory' crisps to commemorate its home-town football team, Leicester City, winning the Premier League for the first time.[66] Earlier that season, Walkers had given Leicester fans in attendance at a match versus Chelsea bags of "Vardy salted" crisps, bearing the image of the Foxes' striker.[67]
In January 2019, Walkers unveiled new packaging for its main range, celebrating its British heritage through its design. The new packaging features the Walkers logo in the middle of each packet rather than centre-top, alongside a new series of illustrations which are laid out in the shape of a Union Jack flag, and feature icons and landmarks such as London's Big Ben and red telephone boxes, and Liverpool's Liver Building.[71]
Litter
According to the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, Walkers crisps packets along with Cadbury chocolate wrappers and Coca-Cola cans were the three top brands that were the most common pieces of rubbish found in UK streets in 2013.[72] In December 2018, Walkers launched a recycling scheme for crisp packets after it was targeted by protests on the issue. Three months after its launch more than half a million empty packets were recycled.[73] However, as UK consumers eat 6 billion packets of crisps per year, with Walkers producing 11 million packets per day, the campaign organisation 38 Degrees noted this represents only a small fraction of the number of packets made and sold annually.[34]
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.
Hula Hoops are a crisp/snack food made out of potatoes and corn in the shape of short, hollow cylinders. They were 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.
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 crisp 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.
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 on May 11th, 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 are a popular British brand of cheese-flavoured corn puffs produced by Walkers, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Known for their light, airy texture and distinctive orange hue, Wotsits are a beloved snack in the UK. Originally launched by Golden Wonder in the 1970s, Wotsits have become a staple in British snack culture. The snack is primarily known for its cheese variant, although other flavours have been introduced over the years. Wotsits are often compared to other puffed corn snacks globally, such as Cheetos in the United States, but are distinguished by their unique texture and flavour profile.
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. Frito-Lay primarily uses the brand name "Lay's" in the United States and Canada, and uses other brand names in some other countries, such as Walkers in the UK and Ireland, and Smith's in Australia.
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 Smith's 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.
Cheddars are a British brand of baked Cheddar cheese-flavoured savoury biscuits. They were originally manufactured and sold by Crawfords. Until 2014, Cheddars were marketed under the McVitie's brand, but are now marketed under the Jacob's brand. Mini Cheddars continue to be marketed under the McVitie's brand in Ireland. Cheddars are made using wheat flour, and include real cheese.
Skips are a snack from the United Kingdom and Ireland which were first launched in 1957 in prawn cocktail flavour.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
↑ "100 years of food and flavour innovation". UK Flavour Association. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1952. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to British scientists, Richard Synge and Archer Martin, for the invention of partition chromatogrphy, which laid the foundations of gas chromatography.
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