Walkers (snack foods)

This article is about the British snack food company. For the Scottish shortbread and biscuit manufacturer, see Walkers Shortbread.

Walkers Snack Foods Limited
Walkers
Formerly
  • Walkers Crisps Holdings Limited (1989–1992)
  • Walkers Smiths Snack Foods Limited (1992–1995)
  • Walkers Snack Foods Limited (1995–1999)[1]
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFood
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)[2][3]
Headquarters
Leicester
,
England
Area served
  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland
ProductsSnack foods
Brands
ParentPepsico Holdings[4][5][a]
Websitewalkers.co.uk

Walkers Snack Foods Limited,[1] trading as Walkers, 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]

  1. ^ a b "Walkers Snack Foods Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 9 January 1989. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  2. ^ Butt, Stephen (30 October 2013). The History of Leicester in 100 People. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-4456-1698-8. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  3. ^ Brooks, Richard (9 September 2014). The Great Tax Robbery: How Britain Became a Tax Haven for Fat Cats and Big Business. Oneworld Publications. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-78074-619-7. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Walkers Snack Foods Limited persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Our Brands". PepsiCo. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Pepsico Holdings overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 9 September 1980. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Incorporation". Companies House. 9 September 1980. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Certificate of re-registration from Limited to Unlimited". Companies House. 6 August 1997. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Pepsico Holdings persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  10. ^ "BBC Food: Crisps: Is classic potato losing its appeal?". BBC. 30 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  11. ^ Martin Glenn. The Best Job in the World - The PepsiCo Walkers crisp Marketing Case Study. Compton House Publishing. p. 06. ISBN 9780954951801.
  12. ^ "PepsiCo buys former RJR Nabisco divisions". UPI. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Pepsico, to Aid Europe Sales, Buys 2 British Snack Units". The New York Times. 1989.
  14. ^ Dayman, Ady (6 June 2023). "£58 million investment for world's biggest Crisp Factory". BBC. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Walkers Crisps Production Line, Leicester". Packaging Gateway. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Inside the Factory. Series 2, Episode 2, Crisps (Walkers factory)". BBC. August 2016. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leicester was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ “Walkers Crisps Range of Flavours” Archived 9 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Walkers.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2019
  19. ^ Snow, Maia. "Walkers Crisps confirm new campaign with the Spice Girls". Leicester Mercury. Leicester: Reach plc. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference metro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Walkers launches six new limited-edition crisp flavours to mark 70th anniversary". Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2019.


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