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 Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

, England.

History

The company was founded in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

in 1853 as Kenyon & Son as a producer of confectionery,

jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...

and

pickles Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to: Food * Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling * Pickled cucumber * Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...

. By 1891 the company had become Kenyon & Son and Craven Limited. The company switched to producing roasted and salted

hazelnuts The hazelnut is the nut (fruit), fruit of the hazel, hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or fil ...

in 1948, expanding to peanuts later. These were originally produced for sale in cinemas. In 1952 the company introduced ''Hercules Nuts'' and in 1953 the ''No.1 KP Nuts'' peanut brand. The company became part of

United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...

(UB) in 1968. The KP Snacks subsidiary produces a range of packet snack brands including

Hula Hoops Hula Hoops are a 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, and ...

, Skips, McCoy's, Frisps, Brannigan's, Royster's, Space Raiders, Nik Naks, Wheat Crunchies, Discos, and Phileas Fogg. The ''snacks'' part is based on

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

and in Rotherham, near the UB distribution warehouse. The

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

site won a Best Factory Award in 2004. UB sold the company to the German company

Intersnack Intersnack Group GmbH & Co. KG is a German snack food company that annually produces around 600,000 tonnes of snacks including potato chips, nuts, baked products and specialty snacks. The company made its first potato chips in 1968. The company ...

in December 2012 for £500 million. In February 2022, it was reported that the KP Snacks supply chain was affected by a ransomware attack. In July 2023, workers threatened to strike because of low wages despite KP Snacks registering profits of £54 million.

Unite union Unite Union (Unite) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents a number of workers across various industries, and was the sponsor of the campaign directed towards improving working conditions for fast food workers in the country, in addit ...

reported that the average pay at KP Snacks had fallen by 14% in real terms since 2018.

Sourcing

As a group, they are the largest buyer of nuts in the world (as of 2019), sourcing from Asia, Africa, South America and Central America. They have various local aid and sustainability projects.

Brands

*Brannigans (discontinued) *

Butterkist Butterkist is a brand of popcorn owned by KP Snacks. It is the United Kingdom's best-selling brand of popcorn. History In 1914, Fred Hoke and James Holcomb began to sell popcorn machines in Kentucky, United States under the brand of Butter-Kis ...

*Choc Dips *Discos *Frisps *

*KP Jacks *KP Mini Chips *KP Nuts *KP Skydivers (discontinued) *Meanies * McCoy's * Nik Naks *Penn State *

Phileas Fogg Phileas Fogg ( ) is the protagonist in the 1872 Jules Verne novel '' Around the World in Eighty Days''. Inspirations for the character were the American entrepreneur George Francis Train and American writer and adventurer William Perry Fogg ...

(discontinued) *

Popchips Popchips, stylized 'popchips' is an American brand of popped potato and corn products marketed as similar to potato chips. They are manufactured by processing potato starch at high pressure and temperature, in a process similar to that used for ...

Pom-Bear Pom-Bear is a teddy bear shaped potato chip sold under the Chio brand. They are produced by Intersnack in Doetinchem, the Netherlands and are sold in over 30 European countries. They were first introduced in 1987 in Germany where they are known a ...

*Quick Lunch *Roysters * Skips * Space Raiders * Tyrrells *Velvet Crunch * Wheat Crunchies *Whole Earth

Products

Butterkist (Popcorn)

Sharing Bags

* Toffee * Sweet Cinema Style * Sweet & Salted * Salted

Microwave Popcorn

* Salted * Sweet & Salted * Sweet

Multipacks

* Toffee * Sweet Cinema Style * Sweet & Salted

Choc Dips

* Original (Milk Chocolate dip) * White Chocolate

Discos

* Cheese & Onion * Prawn Cocktail * Salt & Vinegar

Frisps

* Cheese & Onion * Ready Salted * Salt & Vinegar

Hula Hoops

* BBQ Beef * Cheese & Onion * Original (Salted) * Roast Chicken * Salt & Vinegar * Smokey Bacon * Spicy * Tangy Cheese

Big Hoops

* BBQ Beef * Salted * Salt & Vinegar * Spicy Chilli

Puft (Light and Puffed Hula Hoops)

* Beef * Salted * Salt & Vinegar * Sweet Chilli

Flavours

* Tangy Cheese * Salt & Vinegar * Spicy

KP Nuts

* Original Salted * Dry Roasted * Honey Roast * Salt & Vinegar * Spicy Chilli * Unsalted * Peanut butter

McCoy's

Ridged

* Flame Grilled Steak *Salt & Malt Vinegar *Cheddar & Onion *Sizzling King Prawn *Hot Mexican Chilli *Thai Sweet Chicken *Salted *Bacon Sizzler *Chargrilled Chicken *Chip Shop Curry Sauce

Muchos

* Nacho Cheese * Smoky Chilli Chicken * Cool Sour Cream & Onion

Nik Naks

* Scampi ‘n’ Lemon * Nice ‘n’ Spicy * Rib ‘n’ Saucy

Penn State

* Original Sea Salted * Sour Cream & Chive

Popchips

* Sea Salt * Barbecue *Mature Cheddar & Onion *Sea Salt & Vinegar *Sour Cream & Onion *Salt & Pepper *Thai Sweet Chilli

Ridges

* Crazy Hot * Buffalo Ranch

Pom-Bear

Flavours

* Original * Cheese & Onion * Salt & Vinegar They are available in multipacks of 5, 6, 12, 18 and more.

Roysters

* T-Bone Steak

Skips

* Prawn Cocktail

Space Raiders

* Beef * Pickled Onion * Saucy BBQ * Spicy

Tyrrells

* Lightly Salted * Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar * Mature Cheddar & Chive * Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper * Sea Salt & Black Pepper * Sunday Best Roast Chicken * Posh Prawn Cocktail * Black Truffle & Sea Salt * Smoked Paprika * Naked (Unsalted) * Sour Cream & Serenade Chilli

Furrows Crisps

* Sea Salt * Sea Salt & Vinegar * Aberdeen Angus Beef * Cheese & Pickled Onion

Veg Crisps

* Balsamic Vinegar & Sea Salt * Parsnip, Beetroot & Carrot With Sea Salt

Popcorn

* Sweet & Salty * Sea Salted * Sweet

Nut Medleys

* Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper * Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper

Wheat Crunchies

* Cheddar & Onion * Spicy Tomato * Crispy Bacon

Cheese Footballs

Whole Earth

Brand bought from

Ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...

in 2024. * Peanut butters * Organic drinks

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.kpsnacks.com/ Snack food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies established in 1853 Brand name potato chips and crisps Slough Rotherham Teesside Intersnack United Biscuits British subsidiaries of foreign companies