Ireland is a crisp- and snack-loving nation.
Research shows that the category has so far felt little impact of recent high inflation, and, in fact, sales within Crisps and Snacks have spiked quite significantly in recent months.
Crisps and Snacks is a category that is associated with social and fun occasions. This means, of course, that there is a lot of growth potential, in terms of sharing packs and multipack offers, on which retailers and manufacturers can capitalise ahead of the home-entertaining, barbecue and picnic season.
Crisps and Snacks is the fifth-biggest category in grocery in Ireland, according to the Top 100 Categories in the 2022 Checkout Top 100 Brands, in association with NIQ.
This means that it has retained its fifth-place position from 2021, when it moved up one place in the category rankings, from sixth position in 2020.
Published every August, the Checkout Top 100 Brands is based on branded value sales across the Irish grocery sector, making it the most accurate barometer of the biggest-selling brands in the marketplace.
In compiling the report, NIQ measures the sales performance of over 5,000 brands from over 200 product classes.
Ireland’s Top Five Crisp And Snack Brands
1 Tayto
Fact: As market leader, Tayto consistently captures the nation’s hearts and tops the polls as the most-missed brand by Irish expats each year. Tayto has been named the most-missed food by Irish emigrants, according to the seventh annual Brand Preferences Amongst the Diaspora study, undertaken by Behaviour & Attitudes on behalf of Checkout magazine. According to the data, almost half (46%) of the surveyed Irish grocery shoppers who have spent time living abroad said that they missed the iconic crisp brand ‘a lot’, while a further 27% said that they ‘missed it somewhat’. When asked to choose the one brand that they missed most when they lived away from home, Tayto came out on top – with almost three in ten (29%) choosing the crisp brand.
2 Pringles
Fact: Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based chips invented by Procter & Gamble in 1968. The brand was sold in 2012 to Kellogg’s. In 2021, Pringles announced that its moustachioed mascot, Mr. P, had received his first makeover in 20 years. After an eye-catching transformation, the playful Mr. P now sports a modern look, including bold new eyebrows and a fancy new red bow tie. Mr. P’s new look has also seen him lose his hair, but, at 54 years old, he is still looking ‘as handsome as ever,’ the crisp brand noted at the time.
3 Walkers
Fact: Owned by PepsiCo, in 2018, Walkers launched the first recycling scheme for crisp packets in the UK. Working with recyclers TerraCycle, the scheme taps into an established network of recycling collection points around the UK. The scheme is simple and free to use: all brands of crisp packets will be accepted and ultimately turned into other basic plastic items.
4 Doritos
Fact: Also owned by PepsiCo, Doritos – the number-one tortilla chip brand in Ireland – has long been a leader in flavour and product innovation. Doritos Flame Grilled Steak heralds a new era in snacking experiences for fans.
5 O’Donnells
Fact: When Ed O’Donnell established O’Donnells Crisps back in June 2010, he wanted to make crisps from the potatoes grown on the family farm in Co. Tipperary. Shortly after the launch of the business, he did an interview with a national newspaper and told the journalist that if he could get a 1% share of the crisps market in Ireland, he would be delighted.
Category Share: 76.3%
© 2023 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more A-brand news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
