Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably

crisps A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or app ...

. These include Ringos, Golden Wonder and Transform-A-Snack. Since 2006, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northern Irish company Tayto, after being rescued out of

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. Founded in 1947, by the 1960s Golden Wonder was the biggest crisp brand in Britain, overtaking Smiths. Both would later be overtaken by Walkers who are now the No.1 crisp brand in the UK.

History

The company was founded in 1947 by William Alexander, who owned a bakery in Stockbridge,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He started making crisps in order to use spare capacity in the deep-fat fryers which he normally used to make doughnuts. The company was named after the Golden Wonder potato, which Alexander believed to be the best for making crisps. In 1952, the company moved to a purpose-built factory in

Sighthill Sighthill may refer to: * Sighthill, Edinburgh Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders ...

. By early 1960s, it was manufacturing crisps at three further sites, at

Broxburn Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston. Etymology The name Broxburn is a corruption of " ...

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

and

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

. A site at Crumlin produced the "Pot Noodle". The company was owned by various parent companies including

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...

and

Hanson plc Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London S ...

, and was then acquired by United Kingdom based

Dalgety plc Dalgety plc—as Dalgety and Company—was for more than a century a major pastoral and agricultural company or stock and station agency in Australia and New Zealand. Controlled from London it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and Austr ...

in March 1987. A fire at the Corby site in 1989 destroyed many historical documents and photographs of the company. In February 1992

Sooner Snacks Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign ...

, manufacturer of Nik Naks and

Wheat Crunchies Wheat Crunchies are a crisp wheat snack produced under the British snack producer KP Snacks Ltd. They come in several flavours including Spicy Tomato, Crispy Bacon and Cheese & Onion. A regular multipack bag contains 20g and a normal retail pack ...

, was bought from Borden Inc. by

, with the company being absorbed into Golden Wonder. In 1995 Golden Wonder underwent a management buyout costing £54.6 million. In 2000

Bridgepoint Capital Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Bridgepoint was founded as NatWest Equity Partners, a private equity firm part of NatWest. ...

acquired the company for £156 million. In January 2006 the company was bought by Tayto, a company based in

Tandragee Tandragee () is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Cusher River, in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower. It had a population of 3,486 people in the 2011 Censu ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. Its notable brands have included "Wotsits", "Ringos", "Jungle Fresh"

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s and

Pot Noodle Pot Noodle is a brand of instant noodle snack foods, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. This dehydrated food consists of noodles, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. It is prepared by adding boiling water, which r ...

, which ceased to carry Golden Wonder branding after the brand (but not the manufacturing business itself) was sold to

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. In July 1995

Best Foods Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

paid

about $280 million for its Golden Wonder Pot Noodle instant hot snacks manufacturing business. Following the purchase by Tayto in 2006, the Nik Naks and Wheat Crunchies brands were sold to

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 Nove ...

. In 2022, They celebrated their 75th anniversary making it one of the oldest crisp brands in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Products

Golden Wonder launched the cheese & onion crisp flavour in 1962. Their first flavoured crisp, the concept was first devised by Tayto in southern

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1953. In the 1970s Golden Wonder produced a line of shell-shaped crisps called Rock 'n' Roller Crisps, named after that decade's

rock and roll revival The rock and roll revival was a back-to-basics musical trend of the late 1960s and early 1970s, in a sort-of backlash against the heavier and psychedelic rock sounds then in vogue. History As the Sixties ended, several early rock and rollers like ...

. They were available in Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & Onion and Crispy Bacon flavours. Golden Wonder ceased to make them in the 1980s. In the 1980s Golden Wonder claimed on television and on their packets to be ''Britain's Noisiest Crisp''. In the following decade a popular series of television adverts with adult actors indulging in childish antics carried another famous slogan: ''You'll never grow old in Golden Wonderland!''. In 2009 the Golden Wonder brand started to be used by Symingtons Ltd, under licence, for the production of The Nation's Noodle and The Nation's Pasta. The new range of instant noodles is similar to the

range, previously produced by Golden Wonder. Golden Wonder branding now features on snacks previously marketed by Red Mill, another snack manufacturer taken over by Tayto. Golden Wonder now produces a number of different flavours of potato crisp; it is also the current owner of the XL Crisp brand. Golden Wonder was the former owner of the

Wotsits Wotsits is a British brand of cheese flavoured corn puffs sold first by Golden Wonder and now by Walkers Crisps. The most common form is the "Really Cheesy" flavour of corn puffs. Other shapes and flavours have also been sold, including limited ...

brand, but when the company changed hands in May 2002 it was sold off separately to rival brand Walkers. Previous snacks

, Chips & Burgers and the corn based Nik Naks are now owned by KP.

Administration

Golden Wonder entered into

on 9 January 2006, threatening about 800 jobs. On 13 January 2006 it was announced that the

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

site and the contract for Mini Pringles, as produced by Golden Wonder, would transfer to Northern Irish crisp manufacturer Tayto. The announcement brought the news that 195 of 350 jobs would be saved initially. On 20 January 2006 it was announced that Tayto was to buy all Golden Wonder's operations in the United Kingdom including the

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...

site, although it would sell the Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks brands to

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Brand name snack foods Snack food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Scottish brands Food and drink companies established in 1947 Companies based in the Borough of North Lincolnshire Brand name potato chips and crisps 1947 establishments in Scotland