Tayto (Republic of Ireland)

For the Northern Ireland potato crisp manufacturer, see Tayto (Northern Ireland).
Tayto Crisps
Industry Potato crisps
Founded 1954
Headquarters Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland
Area served
 Ireland
Owner Largo Foods
Website http://www.taytocrisps.ie

Tayto Crisps is an Irish crisps and popcorn manufacturer, founded by Joe Murphy in 1954.[1] Tayto invented the first flavoured crisp production process.[2] Tayto crisps are a cultural phenomenon in Ireland,[3] and "Tayto" is used by many people in Ireland, particularly in rural areas, as a metonym for crisps.[4] In November 2010, Tayto opened their own theme park called "Tayto Park" near Ashbourne, County Meath.[5]

Ownership

The company Tayto is currently owned by Largo Foods. It was previously owned by Cantrell and Cochrane, and was based in Coolock, County Dublin, until their factory was closed in September 2005, when production was outsourced to Largo. Largo agreed to purchase the brand from C&C in May 2006 for €62.3 million.[6]

Brands

Tayto crisps come in several flavours: Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Smokey Bacon, Prawn Cocktail, and the limited edition flavour Tex Mex.[7]

In the early 2000s, the company targeted the healthy eating market, with its low salt, low fat crisps, originally branded as Honest.[8] Tayto currently refers to this range as the Happy & Healthy range.[9]

Tayto crisps pack with an Irish Gaelic inscription

Tayto also produce a number of other ranges of products:[7]

Nuts and Popcorn Range

Snacks Range

Happy and Healthy Range

Sharing Range

Marketing

Tayto have used their mascot, Mr. Tayto, in a number of marketing campaigns. In the 2007 Irish General Election, Tayto ran an advertising campaign with Mr. Tayto as a fake election candidate.[10] Tayto have claimed that the number of spoiled votes in the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency indicate that some actually voted for their mascot, but this is purely speculative.[11] Tayto were fined during the campaign for littering, due to their fake election posters being posted in public places.[12]

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.

Tayto Park

Main article: Tayto Park

In November 2010, Tayto opened a theme park, "Tayto Park" in Ashbourne, County Meath.[5]

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,[13] although the image had been used since 1988 on Toasted Heretic's cassette album Songs for Swinging Celibates.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Archived October 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Obituary: Joe 'Spud' Murphy". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 November 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  3. ↑ "Two packets of Tayto and a bottle of TK . .". The Irish Times. 6 June 2009.
  4. ↑ Muldoon, Molly (19 January 2011). "IrishCentral's top Irish food products". IrishCentral. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  5. 1 2 Casey, Ann. "Opening of Tayto Park near Ashbourne brings 85 jobs". The Meath Chronicle. Celtic Media Group. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "C&C Group says to sell Tayto Crisps to Largo Food for 62.3 mln eur". Forbes. 7 May 2006.
  7. 1 2 Archived September 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Archived March 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Archived August 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "Tayto are mass littering the whole country « Damien Mulley". Mulley.net. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  11. ↑ Archived June 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Published on Wednesday 6 June 2007 13:23 (2007-06-06). "Don'T Fine Me, Urges Willie Over His Posters – By Anne Sheridan – Local – Limerick Leader". Limerickleader.ie. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  13. ↑ "Toasted Heretic in battle with Tayto". Hotpress.com. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  14. ↑ "Toasted Heretic original official website". Archived from the original on 2003-12-07. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
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