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The Smith's Snackfood Company

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The Smith's Snackfood Company is a British-Australian snack food brand owned by the American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation PepsiCo. It is best known for its brand of potato crisps. The company was founded by Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom in 1920 as Smith's Potato Crisps Ltd, originally packaging a twist of salt with its crisps in greaseproof paper bags which were sold around London.[1] The dominant brand in the UK until the 1960s when Golden Wonder took over with Cheese & Onion, Smith's countered by creating Salt & Vinegar flavour (first tested by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor) which was launched nationally in 1967.[2]

The Smith's Snackfood Company
Company typeProprietary company
IndustryFood
Founded1920; 104 years ago (1920) in Cricklewood, England (UK branch).
13 May 1932; 92 years ago (13 May 1932) (Australia branch)
Founders
  • Frank Smith
  • Jim Viney
  • George Ensor
Headquarters
Chatswood
,
Australia
Area served
Oceania
United Kingdom
ProductsSnack foods, potato chips
ParentPepsiCo
Websitesmiths-chips.com.au

After establishing the product in the UK, Smith set up the company in Australia in 1932. Both versions of Smiths have had various owners, but were reunited under PepsiCo ownership, with the UK business being purchased in 1989, and the Australian business in 1998.[3] Smith's Snackvend Stand is the branch of the company that operates vending machines.[4] The Smith's brand in the United Kingdom is now a sub-brand of the main Walkers brand, while in Australia, Smiths is the main brand.

United Kingdom

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An early Smith's advertisement

Smith's Potato Crisps was formed by entrepreneurs Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom after World War I.[5] Smith had been a manager for a Smithfield wholesale grocery business which sold potato crisps from 1913. Deciding to make his own, Smith converted garages in Cricklewood, London into a crisp factory, selling to local businesses. By 1920, he had 12 full-time employees and was producing half a million packets a week.[5] Smith conceived the idea of selling unseasoned potato crisps with a small blue sachet of salt that could be sprinkled over them.[6] In 1927, after buying Jim Viney's share of the business, the company expanded into a factory in Brentford, London. In 1929, Smiths had seven factories in the UK and the following year it was incorporated as a private limited company.[7] By 1934, 200 million packets of crisps were sold in Britain each year, 95 percent of which were manufactured by Smith's. In 1939, the footballers of Portsmouth won the last FA Cup final before the war on a daily diet of Smith's crisps.[5] During World War II, crisps were packed into British troop ships and sent off to allied forces.[5] In the 1950s, fictional matriarch Doris Archer from BBC Radio's The Archers published a cookbook advocating the use of “delicious Smith's potato crisps, crushed to farthing size” in various meals.[5]

By 1956, the company was making 10 million packets every week. In 1960, Smith's purchased northern rival Tudor Crisps for £1 million.[8][9] Smith's followed up this expansion two years later by purchasing the biscuit and wafer producer, G & T Bridgewater and the Cardiff based nut company Snackpak Food Products.[10] Following the creation of Cheese & Onion flavour by Tayto in Ireland, Golden Wonder (Smiths' main competitor in Britain) produced their Cheese & Onion version, and Smith's countered with Salt & Vinegar (tested first by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor) which launched nationally in 1967, starting a two-decade-long flavour war.[2][11]

 
Quavers cheese flavour. Introduced by Smith's in the United Kingdom in 1968, they are now produced by Walkers

In 1966, Smith's was purchased by the American food producer, General Mills.[12] Smith's launched a ‘Do The Crunch' advertising campaign; in 1967 a young Phil Collins toured the UK teaching people the crunch dance.[13] Aimed at children, Monster Munch were launched by Smiths in Britain in 1977. Originally called "The Prime Monster" (a play on The Prime Minister, and as part of a wider campaign), they were renamed "Monster Munch" in 1978.[14] In 1978, Smith's was sold by its parent company, General Mills to the British biscuit giant Associated Biscuits.[15]

Associated Biscuits was purchased by Nabisco in 1982, bringing Smith's under the same ownership as rival Walkers.[16] In 1988, RJR Nabisco was purchased in a leverage buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and to reduce debt several business were sold to French conglomerate BSN, who quickly sold on Smith's and Walkers to PepsiCo in 1989.[17][18] At the time Walkers had a third of the crisp market in the United Kingdom, while Smith's had a third of the extruded snacks market, making them the market leader.[19] Subsequently, Pepsico withdrew the brand, in favour of British brand Walkers, which was heavily marketed by PepsiCo in a campaign using former England international footballer turned television presenter Gary Lineker.[20] Many of the products previously marketed by Smith's became labelled as Walkers, such as Quavers.

Current products

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  • Chipsticks - extruded corn starch snack in the shape of a french fry, in salt and vinegar flavour.[21]
  • Frazzles - extruded corn starch snack in the shape of a bacon rasher, in bacon flavour.[21]
  • Bacon Fries - extruded cereal starch snack, in bacon flavour.[21]
  • Scampi Fries - extruded cereal starch snack, in scampi flavour.[21]
  • Funyuns - extruded cereal starch snack in the shape of onion rings, in onion flavour.[21]
  • Snaps - potato snack in the shape of a curled up rectangle, in spicy tomato flavour.[21]

Australia

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After establishing the product and name in the UK, Frank Smith moved to set up a subsidiary in Australia.[22] Smith's Crisps were first manufactured in Australia in 1931 with an associate, George Ensor, in leased premises in Sydney's Surry Hills. They were originally made in 20 gas fired cooking pots, then packed by hand and distributed by Nestle confectionery vans.[23]

Smith's Potato Crisps sold its early crisps in three penny packets, 24 to a tin. "Twist of salt" sachets were included before pre-salting had been introduced. In March 1932, Smith's Potato Crisps Ltd. went into voluntary liquidation as a result of the Great Depression. However, three months later, George Ensor tendered for the business put up for sale by the liquidators, and on 13 May 1932, Smith's Potato Crisps (Australia) was formed with the UK Smith's Company holding a majority interest over minor shareholders. Growth after World War II was rapid, so a continuous cooker process was introduced to replace the individual cooking pots and in 1960 the production of a one shilling pack for cinemas and a box pack for four shillings was initiated.

In 1961, Smith's introduced its first flavoured chip - chicken. It was a very popular flavour, influencing most competitors at the time to adopt a Chicken variation. Other flavours released were Original (Pre-Salted) and Salt & Vinegar. Later, in the 1970s, Barbecue was added as a flavour for Smiths crinkle cut chips, and in the 1980s Cheese & Onion was added. These five flavours - Original Salted (blue packet), Salt & Vinegar (magenta packet), Chicken (green packet), Barbecue (orange packet) and Cheese & Onion (yellow packet) have remained the mainstay flavours of the brand since the 1980s. Many other 'limited edition' variants have also been tried over the years. During the late 1980s, the company introduced the famous advertising mascot Gobbledok, a chip obsessed alien character similar to the popular characters E.T. and ALF.[24][25]

In 1968, Associated Products and Distribution Pty Ltd (APD), the food group holding company in British Tobacco Co. (Aust), bought a 41.5% share of Smith's Potato Crisps (Australia)'s parent company, including all Australian shareholders. Over the next 20 years, other takeovers and new products (including Twisties and Burger Rings brands) drove growth. PepsiCo took over the company in 1998. In 1990, the APD name was replaced by CCA Snackfoods.[citation needed]

In 1998, the Smiths Snackfood company was Australia's largest producer of salty snack foods. It was acquired in August of that year, by Frito-Lay the second largest producer of salt snack foods in Australia, which is owned by PepsiCo. To prevent the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission from intervening for unfair trading practices Frito-Lay divested a range of brands, manufacturing facilities, including plants in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The package was named Snack Brands Australia and was sold to Dollar Sweets Holdings. In that package included the brands sold were CC's, Cheezels, Thins and Samboy.

Despite Australians using the term "chips" for crisps, Smith's called their product crisps until as late as 2003. They are now labelled as Smith's Chips.[26] As of 2010–2011, portions contained in "large" bags of Smith's Snackfood products have diminished, down from 200g to 175g (approximately equal to the previous 1975 large size of 6½oz).[27]

Recalls

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Products produced by The Smith's Snackfood Company have been recalled on several occasions including:

  • On three occasions, February 2007,[28] December 2008[29] and June 2009,[30] the Crinkle Cut chips were recalled after rubber pieces were discovered in packets.
  • On two occasions, in October 2022[31] and May 2023,[32] the Crinkle Cut chips were recalled after plastic pieces were discovered in packets.

Misleading representation of products

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In July 2016, The Smith's Snackfood Company was fined $10,800 by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for misleading representation on its Sakata Paws Pizza Supreme Rice Snacks, which included a logo with the words “Meets School Canteen Guidelines” and an image of a sandwich and apple. The disclaimer that the product had only met the 'Amber' criteria of the National Healthy School Canteens Guidelines were in small font and on the other side of the packaging to the logo. Smith's has since removed the logo from the product.[33]

Current products

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  • Burger Rings[34] - hamburger-flavoured snack
  • Cheetos[34] -Cheese or flamin' hot flavour puffs
  • Cool Pak popcorn
  • Doritos[34] - corn chip
  • Grain Waves - wholegrain chips
  • Maxx - multiple flavoured chips
  • Nobby's[34] - nuts, peanuts and cashews[35]
  • Parker's - Australia's largest pretzel company - typical hard pretzels and a variety of uniquely flavoured pretzels including flavours such as Tomato & Basil & Sweet Chili
  • Red Rock Deli[34] - Thick-sliced premium potato chips
  • Sakata[34] - rice crackers
  • Smith's Crinkle Cut - crinkle-cut potato chips[36]
  • Smith's Popped - Air popped potato snacks
  • Lay's Stax - competitor of Pringles
  • Smith's Thinly Cut[34] - thinly sliced potato chips range in various flavours[36]
  • Twisties[34] - cheese or chicken flavoured extruded snack

Previous products in UK & Australia

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  • Bats - Batburger flavoured snack in shape of bats, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of the Horror bags range.[37]
  • Battle Tanks - Cheese and onion flavoured snack in shape of tanks, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of Battle Bags range.[38]
  • Battle Planes - Salt and Vinegar flavoured snack in shape of planes, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of Battle Bags range.[38]
  • Bones - Salt and vinegar flavoured snack in shape of bones, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of the Horror bags collection[39]
  • Cheezers - cheese flavoured corn puffs[40]
  • Cheese Flavoured Moments - Cheese flavoured triangles, with cheese powder centre
  • Chinese Quavers - Spicy beef flavoured[41]
  • Chipitos - toasted cheese puffs[42]
  • Chipsticks - Ready salted flavoured[43]
  • Claws - Bacon flavoured snack in shape of claws, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of the Horror bags collection[39]
  • Crispy Tubes - manufactured during the 1980s and available in Lightly Salted and Salt & Vinegar flavours[44]
  • Fangs - Cheese and onion flavoured snack in shape of fangs, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of the Horror bags collection[39]
  • Farmer Browns - animal shaped cereal snack[45]
  • Football Crazy - corn and potato balls[46]
  • French Fries - Small crisp potatoes straws similar in appearance and taste to french fries - now owned and manufactured by Snack Brands Australia and under the Walkers name
  • Jackets - Manufactured during the mid-1980s, these were crisps where the potatoes had not been peeled, leaving potato skin around the edges. There was an advert which featured dancing potatoes singing "We want to be jackets" in falsetto voices, and the slogan "So good, every potato wants to be one"[47]
  • Lay's - Thinly sliced potato chips
  • Maize Pops - toffee coated popped maize[48]
  • Monster Munch - Still manufactured, under the Walkers name[49]
  • OnYums - onion flavoured rings[50]
  • Quavers - introduced 1968, now sold under the Walkers name
  • Ribs - vinegar flavoured snack in shape of ribs, manufactured in the 1970s. Part of the Horror Bags range.[51]
  • Ruffles - crinkle cut potato chips
  • Smiths Salt 'n' Shake - still manufactured, under the Walkers name[52]
  • Smith's Crisps[53]
  • Smith's Crinkle Cut Crisps - crinkled cut various flavours[54]
  • Smith's Selections - thinly sliced potato chips range in various flavours, now Smith's Thinly Cut
  • Smokees - Bacon flavoured curls[55]
  • Squares - Ready salted, cheese & onion & salt & vinegar flavour square shaped potato crisps, still manufactured under the Walkers name[56]
  • Sunbites - wholegrain chips
  • Thins - thinly sliced potato chips - now owned and manufactured by Snack Brands Australia
  • Tuba Loops - tube shaped potato snacks[57]
  • Twists - Manufactured during the 1970s, these were available in Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, and Ready Salted[58]
  • Twisted - Flamin' hot flavour corn puffs, still manufactured under the Cheetos brand
  • Wafflers - Bacon flavour waffles (previously sold to Wotsits)
  • Zodiacs - Mystery flavoured snack in shape of zodiac signs[59]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Potato Crisps - A History". BBC. 7 December 2006. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Channel 4 documentary tells dramatic story of how Corby's huge crisp factory changed the world of snacks - and how it exploded". Northampton Chronicle. Retrieved 23 April 2022. This is when Smith's hit back with their own revolutionary flavour — salt and vinegar, inspired by the country's love for fish & chips.
  3. ^ Northwestern journal of international law & business. p. 277.
  4. ^ Hospitality Foodservice. p. 36.
  5. ^ a b c d e "'Crisps buoyed Britain in its darkest hour'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  6. ^ "So long, salt and vinegar: how crisp flavours went from simple to sensational". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Smith's Crisps Limited". Gov.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Smith's Crisps". Investors Chronicle. Vol. 216. 1962. p. 15.
  9. ^ "Smith's purchase". The Economist. Vol. 194. 1960. p. 1020.
  10. ^ The Bedside Guardian. 1975. p. 175.
  11. ^ "From salt and vinegar crisps to the offside rule: 12 gifts the North East gave the world". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. ^ Richard Roberts (2016). Schroders. Merchants & Bankers. Springer. p. 437. ISBN 9781349096503.
  13. ^ Gallo, Armando (1978). Genesis: The Evolution of a Rock Band. Sidgwick and Jackson Limited. p. 120
  14. ^ "Which iconic snack came out the year you were born?". Somerset Live. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Associated Biscuits widens its range". Investors Chronicle. Vol. 45–46. 1978. p. 889.
  16. ^ "Crisp retort with a twist". The Times. 23 January 2006.
  17. ^ "PepsiCo buys former RJR Nabisco divisions". UPI. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Pepsico, to Aid Europe Sales, Buys 2 British Snack Units". The New York Times. 1989.
  19. ^ "Pepsico, to Aid Europe Sales, Buys 2 British Snack Units". The New York Times. 4 July 1989.
  20. ^ "The history of Walkers Crisps and some amazing statistics". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  21. ^ a b c d e f "Smith's Crisps". BritSuperstore. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Smiths Chips, Australia". Smiths.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  23. ^ "Smiths - Heritage".
  24. ^ Smiths Crisps (Australian ad) 1988, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 22 July 2021
  25. ^ Smiths Chips commercial 1991, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 22 July 2021
  26. ^ O'Connell, Jan (2013). "Australian food history timeline: 1931 Smith's Potato Chips arrive in Australia". Me and my big mouth. Archived from the original on 30 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  27. ^ size is 170gKollmorgen, Andy (8 July 2015). "Three chips short of a full pack". www.choice.com.au. Choice. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  28. ^ "The Smith's Snackfood Company—Classic Crinkle Cut potato crisps". www.productsafety.gov.au. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  29. ^ "The Smith's Snackfood Company—Classic Crinkle Cut Potato Chips Salt and Vinegar". www.productsafety.gov.au. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  30. ^ "The Smith's Snackfood Company—Smiths's Classic Crinkle Cut Potato Chips". www.productsafety.gov.au. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  31. ^ "The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited — Smith's Salt & Vinegar Crinkle Cut Chips 45g, 90g and 170g". www.productsafety.gov.au. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  32. ^ "Smith's Original and Cheese and Onion Chips". www.foodstandards.gov.au. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  33. ^ "Unilever and Smith's pay penalties for misleading healthy food representations". Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g h Carter, Bridget (17 March 2021). "PepsiCo set to divest local brands". The Australian. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  35. ^ Australian Food: The Complete Reference to the Australian Food Industry - Catharine A. McKean. p. 211.
  36. ^ a b "Smiths". Smiths. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  37. ^ "UK - Smiths - Horror Bags Bats - 48-pack shipper". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  38. ^ a b "Smiths Food. Smiths Battle Bags". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  39. ^ a b c "THE 'ORRIBLE 'OUSE OF TERRIBLE OLD TAT". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  40. ^ "Retro Recipes Cheezers snack". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  41. ^ "Vintage Sweets". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  42. ^ "Vintage Sweets Smiths chipitos". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  43. ^ "Vintage Sweets. Old chipsticks packet (salt'n'vinerger)". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  44. ^ "Vintage Sweets". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  45. ^ "Farmer Browns Crisps". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  46. ^ "Old Sweets 1980s Crisps". Pinterest. 22 August 2023.
  47. ^ "Smiths Jackets Lightly Salted Crisps 1988". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  48. ^ "Heather Hughes. Smiths maizee pops". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  49. ^ "Food & Drink". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  50. ^ "Dinner Party Essentials. Smiths OnYums". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  51. ^ "Horror Bags (Smith's Snacks)". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  52. ^ "Smiths Chips, Australia". Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  53. ^ "Wrappers". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  54. ^ "Retro Food". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  55. ^ "Crisps Brands Smiths smokees". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  56. ^ "Old Food from the 80s - Snacks - Crisps". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  57. ^ "Potato Snacks". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  58. ^ "Old Sweets twists". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  59. ^ "80s food. Smith's Zodiac Crisps". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

Further reading

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