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The Smith's Snackfood Company is a British-Australian snack food company owned by American multinational corporation PepsiCo. It is best known for its brand of
potato crisp 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 ap ...
s. The company was founded by Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom in 1920 as Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd, originally packaging a twist of salt with its crisps in greaseproof paper bags which were sold around London. The dominant brand in the UK until the 1960s when Edinburgh's
Golden Wonder Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably crisps. 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 bei ...
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. After establishing the product in the UK, Smith set up the company in Australia in 1932. PepsiCo acquired a controlling stake in 1998. Smith's Snackvend Stand is the branch of the company that operates
vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The ...
s.


Smiths by country


United Kingdom

Smith's Potato Crisps Ltd. was formed by Frank Smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom after World War I. 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
into a crisp factory, selling to local businesses. By 1920 he had 12 full-time employees. Smith conceived the idea of selling unseasoned potato crisps with a small blue sachet of salt that could be sprinkled over them. In 1927, after buying Jim Viney's share of the business, the company expanded into a factory in Brentford, London. In 1929, Smiths had 7 factories in the UK and the company went public. By 1934, 200 million packets of crisps were sold in Britain each year, 95 percent of which were manufactured by Smith's. By 1956, the company was making 10 million packets every week. Following the creation of Cheese & Onion flavour by Tayto in Ireland,
Golden Wonder Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably crisps. 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 bei ...
(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. Smith's launched a ‘Do The Crunch’ advertising campaign; in 1967 a young Phil Collins toured the UK teaching people the crunch dance. Aimed at children,
Monster Munch Monster Munch are a British baked corn snack created by Smiths in 1977 and manufactured by Walkers. They are aimed at children and widely consumed in the United Kingdom. Flavours include Roast Beef, Pickled Onion and Flamin' Hot. On the issue ...
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. Smiths was later owned by biscuit company
Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...
, BSN and finally sold to American company PepsiCo in the 1990s. Subsequently, Pepsico withdrew the brand, in favour of popular British brand Walkers, which had been heavily marketed in a campaign using former England international footballer turned television presenter
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...
. Many of the products previously owned by Smith's became labelled as Walkers, such as
Quavers Quavers are a deep-fried potato-based British snack food. Launched in the UK in 1968, they were originally made by Smith's. Since 1997 they have been produced by Walkers. The name comes from the musical note, quaver. History Quavers were lau ...
. Current Smiths brands include Smiths Crisps, Frazzles, Chipsticks, Snaps and Savoury Selection (Bacon Fries and Scampi Fries).


Australia

After establishing the product and name in the UK, Frank Smith moved to set up a subsidiary in Australia. Smith's Crisps were first manufactured in Australia in 1931 with an associate, George Ensor, in leased premises in Sydney's
Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...
. They were originally made in 20 gas fired cooking pots, then packed by hand and distributed by Nestle confectionery vans. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
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. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...
and ALF. 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 Twisties are a type of cheese curl corn-based snack food product, available mainly in Australia, and other Oceanian countries such as Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, the Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Thailand, Singap ...
and
Burger Rings Burger Rings are a type of corn-based, burger-flavoured Australian snack food distributed by The Smith's Snackfood Company, which, in turn is owned by PepsiCo. History Burger Rings were introduced in 1974. During the late 1990s the Burger ...
brands) drove growth. PepsiCo took over the company in 1998. In 1990, the APD name was replaced by CCA Snackfoods. 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 Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-fla ...
the second largest producer of salt snack foods in Australia, which is owned by PepsiCo. To prevent the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trad ...
from intervening for unfair trading practices Frito-Lay divested a range of brands, manufacturing facilities, including plants in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
and
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
. The package was named
Snack Brands Australia Snack Brands Australia (SBA) is one of the largest suppliers of snack foods in Australia and acts as the main competitor to the long established The Smith's Snackfood Company. The company was founded in August 1998 as a subsidiary of parent co ...
and was sold to Dollar Sweets Holdings. In that package included the brands sold were
CC's CC's (pronounced ''sea-seas'' and short for “corn chips”) is an Australian brand of flavoured tortilla chips produced since the early 1980s, originally by The Smith's Snackfood Company, and currently by Snack Brands Australia. CC's are predo ...
,
Cheezels Cheezels are a brand of Australian snack food currently produced by Snack Brands Australia. Made from corn and rice, they are a crisp puffy ring with a strong, savoury cheddar cheese flavour and aroma. They are similar in texture to chee ...
,
Thins Thins is one of the largest brands of savoury snack potato chips currently available in Australia, and is owned by Snack Brands Australia. The snack food is a thinly-sliced variety of potato chip (crisp) and comes in a variety of flavours, includ ...
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. 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).size is 170g


Products


Current products

*
Burger Rings Burger Rings are a type of corn-based, burger-flavoured Australian snack food distributed by The Smith's Snackfood Company, which, in turn is owned by PepsiCo. History Burger Rings were introduced in 1974. During the late 1990s the Burger ...
* Bacon Fries *
Cheetos Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initi ...
* Chipsticks * Cool Pak popcorn * Crisps (United Kingdom) *
Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...
* Frazzles *
Funyuns Funyuns is the brand name of an onion-flavored corn snack introduced in the United States in 1969, and invented by Frito-Lay employee George Wade Bigner. Funyuns consist primarily of cornmeal, ring-shaped using an extrusion process, representing th ...
* Grain Waves * Maxx * Nobby's * Parker's * Red Rock Deli * Sakata * Scampi Fries * Smith's Crinkle Cut * Smith's Popped * Snaps *
Lay's Stax Lay's Stax is a potato chip snack food produced by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo."Pringles vs Stax"
(Septem ...
* Smith's Thinly Cut * Toobs *
Twisties Twisties are a type of cheese curl corn-based snack food product, available mainly in Australia, and other Oceanian countries such as Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, the Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Thailand, Singap ...


Previous products

* Bats * Battle Tanks * Bones * Cheese Flavoured Moments * Chipsticks * Claws * Fangs * Fighter Planes * French Fries * Jackets *
Lay's Lay's is a brand of potato chips, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay because both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the Frito-Lay company, which ha ...
*
Monster Munch Monster Munch are a British baked corn snack created by Smiths in 1977 and manufactured by Walkers. They are aimed at children and widely consumed in the United Kingdom. Flavours include Roast Beef, Pickled Onion and Flamin' Hot. On the issue ...
*
Quavers Quavers are a deep-fried potato-based British snack food. Launched in the UK in 1968, they were originally made by Smith's. Since 1997 they have been produced by Walkers. The name comes from the musical note, quaver. History Quavers were lau ...
* Ribs * Ruffles * Salt 'n' Shake * Smith's Selections *
Squares In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
* Sunbites *
Thins Thins is one of the largest brands of savoury snack potato chips currently available in Australia, and is owned by Snack Brands Australia. The snack food is a thinly-sliced variety of potato chip (crisp) and comes in a variety of flavours, includ ...
* Tubes * Twists * Twisted * Wafflers * Zodiacs


See also

*
List of brand name snack foods This is a list of brand name snack foods. A snack or snack food is a portion of food often smaller than a regular meal, generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged and processed foods and items made from fr ...


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith's Snackfood Company PepsiCo subsidiaries Snack food manufacturers of Australia Snack food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Food processing in London Brand name potato chips and crisps Walkers (snack foods) brands Food and drink companies based in Sydney Food manufacturers of Australia Manufacturing companies based in Sydney Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies