| Type | Subsidiary of PepsiCo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Snacks |
| Founded | 1880s |
| Headquarters | Leicester, England, UK |
| Products | See below |
| Parent | Frito-Lay |
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market.[1] The Walkers site in Leicester is one of the largest crisp production plants in the world, producing over 11 million bags of crisps per day and using about 800t of potatoes.[1]
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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.
Walkers is now owned by Frito-Lay, which in turn is a subsidiary of PepsiCo, with the current logo a derivative of the North American Lay's logo. The company is still a significant presence in Leicester. 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 4,000 people in fifteen locations.
In 2000, Walkers' 1995 advertisement starring Gary Lineker was named the ninth 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%.[2] They started frying their crisps in SunSeed oil, a variety of sunflower oil, claiming the oil's higher monounsaturated fat content made it healthier than the sunflower oil which they used previously.[3] They once again changed their packaging style in June 2007, rather similar to the logo used from 1998–2006.
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. In August 2000 Walkers launched Max, a brand with a range of crisps. More Max flavours were introduced in 2001. In the same year Walkers bought Squares, a range of snacks from Smiths.
In 2002 Walkers bought Wotsits from Golden Wonder. In May 2002 Walkers launched Sensations, a range of crisps in the UK. Walkers introduced the Quavers flavours Salt & Vinegar and Prawn Cocktail in July 2002.
In 2003 Walkers bought Salt & Shake, Scampi Fries and Bacon Fries from Smiths. In 2005 Walkers launched Wotsits Twisted, a range of cheese puffs in the UK. Nutrition information has appeared on the front of Walkers crisps packets since 2006.
In 2007 Walkers launched Sunbites, a range of crisps made using wholegrains.[4]
In July 2008 Walkers launched its "Do Us A Flavour" campaign, challenging members of the public to think up a unique flavour of crisp. In January 2009 six flavours were picked and released as special editions, available until May 2009. During this period, consumers could vote on their favourite and the winner would become a permanent flavour.[5] The winner of the competition was Builder's Breakfast by Emma Rushin from Belper in Derbyshire. This flavour was itself discontinued a year later in May 2010 in order for Walkers to focus on the upcoming 'Flavour Cup'(see below)
In summer 2009 Walkers launched its premium Red Sky brand of "all natural" potato crisps and snacks.[6]
In April 2010 the company launched a promotional campaign entitled the 'Walkers Flavour Cup' to find the world's favourite flavour.[7] The flavour with the most fans at the end of the tournament would be declared the winner. Walkers encouraged people to engage in the social media activity and upload Photos & Videos to their website proving people's Superfan status of Walkers Crisps. The best fan from each of the 15 flavours won £10,000.[8] In the end, English Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding won the flavour cup.
For the 2011 Comic Relief four celebrities; Jimmy Carr, Stephen Fry, Al Murray and Frank Skinner each represented four new flavours and the three whose crisps sell the least amount would be waxed by Denise Van Outen on the 18 March 2011 on Red Nose Day (see below).[9]
The following flavours were available for a short time either because they tied in with special promotions, or failed to meet sales expectations:
For the 2010 FIFA World Cup:
For Red Nose Day 2011:
From launch the flavours have changed in 2006 and again 2009. Current flavours are:[12]
2006 Re-Brand Flavours:-
The Original Launch Flavours:-
The common pack sizes.
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 Grab bag after passing it around their friends as would be found in a standard 34.5g pack.