Walkers (snack foods)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Snacks |
| Founded | 1880's |
| Headquarters |  Leicester |
| Products | See below |
| Parent | Frito-Lay |
| Website | www.walkers.co.uk |
Walkers is a snack food manufacturer in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland best known for manufacturing crisps.
History
In the 1880s Henry Walker moved from Mansfield to Leicester to take over an established butcher's shop in the high street. Meat rationing after World War II saw the factory output drop dramatically and the company looked at alternatives to make use of the wasted capacity. With potato crisps being increasingly popular with the public, managing director R.E. Gerrard helped the company shift focus and began hand-slicing and frying potatoes.
Present day
Walkers is now owned by Frito-Lay, which in turn is a subsidiary of Pepsico. It is still a significant presence in Leicester and sponsor Leicester City football team's stadium, the Walkers Stadium. Gary Lineker, formerly a Leicester City footballer is now the face of the company, starring in most of their advertising campaigns.
The official website states that an estimated "11 million people will eat a Walkers product every day". The company employs over 4000 people in 15 locations.
In 2000, Walkers' 1995 advert starring Gary Lineker was named the 9th best television commercial of all time, in a poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4.
In February 2006, Walkers changed their brand label and typeset. They also announced they were to reduce the saturated fat in their crisps by 70%.[1]
As of late 2006, the company has added nutrition values on the front of the Walkers crisps packets.
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 Walkers in the south. After the takeover by Pepsico the Tudor name was dropped and the Smiths brand has gradually been phased out in favour of Walkers.
The only products currently 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.
In 1997, Walkers became the brand name of the Quavers and Monster Munch snacks.
Notably, Walkers package their cheese and onion crisps in blue packets, and salt and vinegar in green. This is the opposite to most other crisp manufacturers, such as McCoys Crisps and Golden Wonder's traditional livery.
Product lines
Flavours
- Cheddar and Onion
- Feta and Herb**
- Greek Kebab**
- Heinz Tomato ketchup
- Pork and Mint
- Marmite yeast extract
- Lettuced Onion
- Prawn Cocktail
- Ready Salted
- Roast Chicken
- Salt and Vinegar
- Sausage and Ketchup**
- Smoky Bacon
- Spicy Chilli**
- Steak and Onion
- Tomato and Basil**
- Turkey and Bacon**
- Fish and Chips
- Cajun Spice**
- Chilli and Onion
** - Limited Edition
Past Flavours
(These flavours have all long been discontinued.)
- Cheddar On Toast
- Toasted Cheddar
- Bovril
- Paxo Stuffing
- Cheddar And Chive (Since 2001)
- Yeast and Onion ( Replaced with 'Steak and Onion' Since July 2006)
- Coronation Chicken (Sold as a special edition for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.)
- BBQ Rib (Replaced with 'Barbecue' in July 2006)
During the Comic Relief period in 2005, Walkers released several unique flavours that combined mismatched elements from pairs of their normal flavours. These included:
- BBQ Rib Chicken
- Bacon and Ketchup
- Cheddar and Lettuce
- Cheddar and Bacon (for Quavers)
For every pack of these special flavours sold, 1p went to the Comic Relief charity.
Variations
- Lights (formerly Lites) (Low fat)
- Salt and Vinegar
- Cheddar and Onion
- Simply Salted (Ready Salted)
- Honeyroasted Ham (Similar to Roast Chicken)
- Potato Heads (Low fat with no artificial colours/flavourings/preservatives)
- Prawn Cocktail
- Cheddar and Onion
- Ready Salted
- Naked Unsalted
- Roast Chicken
- Salt and Vinegar
- Cheddar Heads (Similar to Potato Heads)
- Baked
- Cheddar & Onion
- Ready Salted
- Salt & Vinegar
- Sour Cream & Chive (Limited Edition)
- Max
- Salt and Vinegar (discontinued upon introduction of Nobbys Salt & Vinegar)
- Cheddar and Onion
- Chargrilled Steak
- Paprika
- Salt 'n' Shake
- Original
- Sensations
These flavours replaced the original Sensations flavours in the Spring of 2006. The original flavours were:
- Sensations Oriental Crackers
- Sensations Poppadom Bites
- Squares
- Salt and Vinegar
- Ready Salted
- Cheddar and Onion
Pack sizes
4 common pack sizes.
- 34.5g standard bags
- 25g "multipack" bags
- 50g (formerly 55g) "Big Eat" bags, produced primarily for the pub trade
- Cinema size bag sold in some cinemas, around 70g
The 50g bag size for the pub trade was produced following a survey by Walkers regarding the average size of a social group in a pub, and the average number of crisps people would take when a bag was passed around; on average, the purchaser should be left with the same weight of crisps in their Big Eat bag after passing it around their friends as would be found in a standard 34.5g pack.
Other types of snack food
- Chipsticks
- Ready Salted
- Salt and Vinegar
- Doritos
- Cool Original
- Tangy Cheddar
- Chilli Heatwave
- Dippas Lightly Salted
- Dippas Hint Of Salmon
- French Fries
- Cheddar and Onion
- Salt and Vinegar
- Ready Salted
- Fish and Chips
- Frazzles
- Bacon
- Squares
- Ready Salted
- Cheddar and Onion
- Salt and Vinegar
- Quavers
- Cheddar 20g
- Prawn Cocktail (multipack only)
- Flamin' Hot (multipack only)
- Monster Munch
- Cheddar 22g
- Steak (multipack only)
- Flamin' Hot BIG EAT 40g
- Wotsits
- Roast Yeast 19g
- Salt and Vinegar (multipack only)
- Prawn Cocktail (multipack only)
- Snaps
- Spicy Tomato