crisps
Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until ...
and
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
snacks based in
Tandragee
Tandragee () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is on a hillside above the Cusher River, and is overlooked by Tandragee Castle. The town is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Ballymore, County Armagh, Ballymore and t ...
,
County Armagh
County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. They describe themselves as the third largest snack manufacturer in the United Kingdom and the largest British-owned crisp and snack manufacturer.
The company employs 300 people at its plant beside
Tandragee Castle
The current Tandragee Castle, Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was rebuilt in 1837 by George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester as the family's Irish home. The 6th Duke of Manchester acquired the estate through his marriage to Millicent ...
(called " Tayto Castle" as part of the advertising for the snacks) and remains the largest selling brand of crisps in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and the third biggest crisp and snack business in the United Kingdom. It owns the Golden Wonder, Ringos, Mr. Porky, Real Crisps, and Jonathan Crisp brands. The Northern Irish Tayto are also widely sold in
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...
, especially in outlets in East Donegal and
Inishowen
Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.
The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfor ...
.
The company is entirely separate from Tayto in the Republic of Ireland which has a similar product range; Tayto in the Republic of Ireland owns the name and mascot, and Tayto in Northern Ireland uses both under a licensing agreement. The Northern Irish Tayto is widely sold in both
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and Great Britain, while the Republic of Ireland brand is sold in the Republic.
History
Tayto (Northern Ireland) was formed in 1956 by the Hutchinson family and licensed the name and recipes from Tayto Crisps formed two years prior in the Republic of Ireland. The two companies operate entirely separately but have a similar range of products.
On 13 January 2006 it was announced that Tayto (NI) was to acquire the
Corby
Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...
and
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...
sites of the former Golden Wonder business and the contract to produce Mini
Pringles
Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based chips invented by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1968 and marketed as "Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips". It is technically considered an Extruded food, extruded snack because of the manufac ...
for
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
. This secured some 195 jobs out of 350 that were under threat following Golden Wonder's entry into administration on 9 January 2006.
In December 2007, Tayto acquired Sirhowy Valley Foods Ltd, makers of the Real Crisps range.
On 14 March 2008 it was announced that Tayto would acquire Red Mill Snack foods, making it the 3rd largest crisp manufacturer in the UK. Most of the Red Mill brands were transferred under the Golden Wonder umbrella but Mr. Porky's pork scratchings continue to be produced under Tayto, from the plant in Westhoughton, Bolton.
On 21 January 2009 it was announced that Tayto had acquired Jonathan Crisp, the trading name of Natural Crisps Ltd, based in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
, England. The headquarters of the Tayto group, which is privately owned by the Hutchinson family, are in County Armagh; it now has a turnover of £150 million per annum and employs more than 1,400 people.
Range
Like its counterpart in the Republic of Ireland, Tayto's signature brand is cheese & onion flavour crisps. They also sell beef & onion, ready salted, smoky bacon, salt & vinegar,
Worcester sauce
Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...
pickled onion
Pickled onions are a food item consisting of onions (cultivars of '' Allium cepa'') pickled in a solution of vinegar and salt, often with other preservatives and flavourings.Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard, which is a measure of the sustainability of
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
buyers endorsed by the World Wildlife Foundation. Tayto NI scored only 1 point out of 9 in the 2016 Scorecard. The score reflects a lack of transparency in their palm oil sourcing activity, despite being a member of the
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance. The seat of the association is ...