Tayto Crisps is a Potato chip, crisps and popcorn manufacturer in Ireland, founded by Joe Murphy in May 1954TaytoCrisps.ie
and owned by German snack food company Intersnack. Tayto invented the first flavoured crisp production process. The first seasoned crisps produced were Cheese & Onion. Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique. Tayto crisps are a cultural phenomenon throughout much of the Republic of Ireland, so much so that in November 2010, Tayto opened their own theme park called "Tayto Park" near Ashbourne, County Meath, Ashbourne. Tayto Crisps manufactured in the Republic of Ireland should not be confused with Tayto (Northern Ireland), Tayto in Northern Ireland, which is a completely separate brand. The Northern Irish Tayto is widely sold in County Donegal.

Ownership

The Republic of Ireland company Tayto was owned by Largo Foods. It was previously owned by Cantrell and Cochrane (C. & C), and was based in Coolock, County Dublin, until their factory was closed in September 2005 and production was outsourced to Largo. Largo agreed to purchase the brand from C. & C. in May 2006 for €62.3 million. In 2015, Ray Coyle sold his remaining shares of Largo foods to German food company Intersnack, ending the Irish ownership of the company. In Northern Ireland, Tayto (Northern Ireland), Tayto Limited is still owned and run by the Hutchinson family. The original Tayto crisp factory was founded in 1954 in Dublin by a local man known as Joe 'Spud' Murphy, who is credited with having invented the world's first flavoured crisp.

Brands

Tayto crisps come in several flavours: Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Smokey Bacon, Prawn Cocktail, and the limited edition flavour Tex Mex.
In the early 2000s, the company targeted the healthy eating market, with its low salt, low fat crisps, originally branded as ''Honest''. Tayto currently refers to this range as the ''Happy & Healthy range''.

Marketing

Tayto has used its mascot, ''Mr Tayto'', in a number of marketing campaigns with previous endorsers such as Westlife. In the 2007 Irish General Election, Tayto ran an advertising campaign with Mr Tayto as a fake election candidate. Tayto claimed that the number of spoiled votes in the Carlow–Kilkenny (Dáil constituency), Carlow–Kilkenny constituency indicate that some actually voted for their mascot, but this is purely speculative. Tayto was fined during the campaign for littering, due to its fake election posters being posted in public places. In 2009 Tayto Ltd. published ''The Man Inside the Jacket'', a fictional autobiography of Mr Tayto written by Maia Dunphy, Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara. Tayto indicated that a percentage of the cover price would go to Irish charity Aware (voluntary organisation), Aware, which assists people affected by depression, bipolar disorder and related mood conditions. In May 2022 the Mr. Tayto mascot was removed from all Cheese & Onion packaging, and a "Where Is Mr. Tayto" tagline was added. Later that month, a statement was made from Mr. Tayto's official social media accounts which claimed that Mr. Tayto was taking a break from work to see the world, beginning the "Mr. Tayto's Bucket List" campaign.

Tayto Park

In November 2010, Tayto, in association with Ray Coyle, a local businessman, opened a theme park, "Tayto Park", near Ashbourne, County Meath, Ashbourne in County Meath In February 2022, it was announced that the existing title sponsorship contract would not be renewed, meaning that the park will begin trading under a new name when the existing contract expires in January 2023.

Legal action

In 2006, Tayto tried to compel Irish band Toasted Heretic to destroy all copies of their album ''Now in New Nostalgia Flavour'', which featured an image based on the trademarked "Mr Tayto" icon, although the image had been used since 1988 on Toasted Heretic's cassette album ''Songs for Swinging Celibates''.

References

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External links

TaytoMr Tayto's site
Brand name snack foods Food and drink companies established in 1954 Food and drink companies of Ireland Irish brands 1954 establishments in Ireland