Northern Ireland's Tayto wins top supplier award

Tayto, the Northern Ireland based manufacture of crisps and other snacks, has been named as a top UK supplier. The company, headquartered at Tandragee in county Armagh, was named winner of the top Own Label Supplier in the Crisps, nuts and snacks category in the Supplier of the Year Awards 2014 run by the influential Grocer magazine.

The magazine said Tayto had won because: "In a crowded and competitive category, it takes something special to stand out. Buyers paid tribute to the way Tayto collaborated with them on developing new own-label products and lines, as well as being flexible over pricing issues when one retailer launched a new promotion. `

"Separately, they also praised the way the Tayto team brought along 'great market insight to planning sessions, and identified key opportunities and gaps."

Hundreds of suppliers were rated by buyers from a who's who of supermarkets, discounters and grocery wholesalers in a rigorous judging process. The awards, according to the magazine were bigger and better in 2014 than ever before.

Tayto is now the UK's third largest crisp producer and has been making snacks since 1956 and is now Northern Ireland's best known and most successful snack brand. In 1964, Tayto became one of the first companies to sell different flavours of crisps with Smoky Bacon and Prawn Cocktail being two of the most popular.

The company is now a major supplier to crisps and extruded snacks to major retailers and independent grocers throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The company has also grown successfully through a series of acquisitions. In 2006, for instance, Tayto acquired the Corby and Scunthorpe sites of the former Golden Wonder business and the contract to produce Mini Pringles for Proctor and Gamble.This secured some 195 jobs out of 350 that were under threat following Golden Wonder's entry into administration on 9 January 2006.

In December 2007, Tayto acquired Shrowy Valley Foods Ltd, makers of the Real Crisps range. In March 2008 Tayto announced it would acquire Red Mill Snack foods, making it the third largest crisp manufacturer in the UK.

In January 2009, Tayto has acquired Jonathan Crisp, the trading name of Natural Crisps Ltd, based in Staffordshire. The Tayto group, which is privately owned, is now has turnover of more than £150 million per annum and employs over 1,400 people.