AMERICAN snack brand, Popchips, is coming to Scotland. Having launched in London in 2012, and in some English regional cities last year, Scotland is the next territory to get the popped potato chip.
The brand, headed by former Kettle Chips CEO Paul Davis, will look to develop a strong relationship with independent outlets such as c-stores, delis and coffee shops. Popchips will be distributed in Scotland by Fife Creamery.
The firm says there will be widespread marketing activity including large-scale, direct-to-consumer sampling.
Popchips describes the product as: “the next generation of potato crisps”. Popped crisps have half the fat of regular crisps and under 100 calories per single-serve bag. Flavours are: Original, Barbecue, Salt & Vinegar, Sour Cream & Onion, Salt & Pepper and Thai Sweet Chilli.
• “Sweevoury” is the latest buzz word from Pepsico brand Walkers. It reckons that treats which combine sweet and savoury flavours, such as its Sensations Popcorn, will meet new demand for dual-character snacks.
The range – Thai Sweet Chili, Sweet Cinnamon & Salt and Sweet Indian Spices – is designed to cash in on increasing popcorn sales, said to be up more than 25% year on year according to Nielsen research. Almost 9m households now buy ready-to-eat popcorn.
Commenting on the national launch, Annika Meeks, PepsiCo senior marketing manager, said: “Each flavour has been inspired by tastes from around the world. This range responds directly to the increasing ‘sweevoury’ trend sweeping the nation.”
The 90g sharing bags have an RRP of £1.59.
A simple pull-and-tear strip creates a sharing popcorn bucket at home. RRP for a 325g carton of Toffee and 225g carton of Sweet is £2.49.
The company has refreshed its other packaging, adding calorie counts to the front of all packs. Coloured navigation banners represent each flavour, to help consumers distinguish between them. The back of packs now include messages promoting the Butterkist range.
