Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Me and My Brand: Matt Smith of Tayto

Can you please give an overview of your brand?

Tayto Group is the largest family-owned snack business in the UK. Our portfolio ranges from the legendary Golden Wonder brand – still delivering its trademark taste and value after more than 70 years – to our pork snacks, where we own the top three brands: Mr Porky, Real Pork Co and Midland Snacks. This unique range is why we believe that we have ‘Snacking Sorted’.


How is the crisps market currently performing? How is your brand currently performing?

Crisps, Snacks and Popcorn is a mature £3bn market that is in good growth (+3.6% YoY), proving that we have remained an avid nation of snackers in a challenging year for everyone,with many of us reaching for a savoury snack to give us a lift. Given the impulse nature of the category, it is an important one for the Convenience sector and accounts for about 20% of sales.

As with most categories, Coronavirus has made its mark on savoury snacks as consumers have changed both what they buy and where they buy it. Pork snacks has been the star performer - the fastest growing category (+10.1%). This is due in part to pub closures leading consumers to pick up scratchings in shops so that they can ‘take the pub taste home’. Mr Porky remains the No.1 brand with over 40% share.

Mr Porky Crispy Strips 35g 3D

Despite this growth, many independent retailers are missing out by not stocking pork scratchings as consumers frequently talk about buying their pork scratchings ‘at the offie’, by which they mean their local convenience store. They may be the ultimate pub snack but, more scratchings are sold in shops than in pubs, even before the pandemic.

£1 PMP Snacks are growing three times faster than the market and now account for 39% of Snacks with family favourites such as our Golden Wonder Ringos and Transform-A-Snack brands performing well. We’ve seen strong growth in our 30p/2 for 50p Fun Snacks range that includes Tangy Toms, Spicy Bikers, Awesome Oinks, Quarterbacks and Cheesy Snakes.

Do you have any new product development? How are you supporting your brand & NPD?

We are driving the category forward with our refreshed range of Great Taste award-winning products and have introduced new formats specifically designed for Convenience such as Mr Porky clipstrips. These are the perfect solution to capture profitable, VAT-free sales as they enable retailers to merchandise pork scratchings adjacent to BWS - a great way of picking upincremental sales without taking up precious shelf or floor space.

We are also supporting Mr Porky with the biggest ever campaign for pork scratchings with the strapline “There’s no matching a scratching”.

The campaign will include national radio coverage, as well as up-weighted regional activity in the Midlands (where sales of scratchings are particularly strong) across OOH, radio and digital. This activity will support our successful ongoing digital activity that is bringing more people into the Mr Porky brand and the wider category.

Tayto Pork Fun Snacks Group

We’re also not forgetting Golden Wonder, especially in the all-important £1 PMP snacks segment. We expanded our range earlier this year with launch of Spicy Bikers – our best-selling ‘Fun Snack’ – with early sales exceeding our expectations. We continue to support the launch with an ongoing digital campaign including opportunities to win bikes and activities exclusively for independent retailers including money-off vouchers.

In April we are launching new flavours into the £1 ranges of two more of our successful brands - Sour Cream & Onion Ringos will tap into the double-digit growth of this flavour and we will be making our popular Cheese & Onion Transform-A-Snack also available as a £1 PMP.

How important are independent retailers to your brand?

Golden Wonder over-trades in the independent retail sector and so I would like to thank all of our stockists for supporting the brand over the years. Our focus remains on delivering the brand’s promise of ‘more punch per crunch’ along with great consumer value and we recognise the importance of providing strong trade margins. We understand the challenges of being an independent retailer and have a team dedicated to the sector with a bespoke promotional planincluding regular offers mailed directly to store owners.

What trends are occurring in the sector?

Coronavirus has accelerated the shift towards both £1 sharing packs and entry-level price-points - with both outperforming the market. Retailers need to ensure that they have strong offering for both.

Similarly, pub closures have helped pork snacks become the fastest growing category as people recreate a pub experience at home. By stocking pork scratchings alongside BWS, convenience retailers can continue to encourage this behaviour and profit from it even as people return to the pub.

The long-term trends however are unchanged - Taste, Value, and increasingly, Health. Value has always been important and never so much as now. A great example of this is Golden Wonder Ringos, which has seen phenomenal growth by delivering a fully flavoured snack with less than 100 calories per serving. Also, as we all look for tasty, comforting snacks, we expect pork scratchings to just keep on growing!

Describe your brand in three words…

Tayto – snacking sorted!

More for you

British Corner Shop website showcasing British brands for expats, relaunched in 2025
British Corner Shop

Exclusive: British Corner Shop’s big comeback

When the expats’ favourite, British Corner Shop – which made traditional and much-loved Brit skus available abroad – went into administration, gasps were heard around the globe from homesick Brits who were used to rely on this e-commerce platform.

From the brink of a total collapse to a global comeback, British Corner Shop has now risen like a phoenix. Under its new owners Harvey Hayer and Amar Dulay, it is thriving and ready to expand into wholesale as well.

Keep ReadingShow less
Amarjit Singh Rakhra inside Budgens Pomeroy Street store, Peckham

Amarjit Singh Rakhra (R) and his wife Pritpal

A room of one’s own

From mini-cab driver to award-winning retailer, Amarjit Singh Rakhra's journey epitomises the entrepreneurial spirit that defines Britain's independent retail sector. But what sets him apart isn't just his business acumen – it's his unwavering commitment to community service, deeply rooted in his Sikh faith and values.

Rakhra, who won the Spirit of the Community Award at the 2024 Asian Trader Awards, operates eight stores across London and surrounding areas through his family business. His latest venture, the Budgens Pomeroy Street store in Peckham, opened in November 2023, exemplifies his innovative approach to community engagement.

Keep ReadingShow less
InPost Locker at a UK convenience store, offering seamless parcel collection in 2025

Paul Selvey

Me and My Brand: Paul Selvey of InPost

InPost is a leading parcel delivery solution provider, changing how people send, collect, and return parcels. At the heart of our brand is the InPost Locker, a self-service solution designed to offer a low-cost way for consumers to collect, send and return parcels quickly and with ease. Thanks to our rapidly growing network of parcel lockers, millions of consumers can now choose anytime, anywhere delivery and returns options. By eliminating the need for home deliveries and aligning with modern consumer lifestyles, we’ve positioned ourselves as an innovative alternative to traditional parcel services.

For retailers, offering InPost Lockers can increase footfall and drive incremental sales, as customers using them often make additional purchases when visiting a storei. In fact, 98 per cent of InPost Locker users said the main reason they visited a convenience store location was because the InPost Locker was there, with 74 per cent visiting the convenience store before or after using the locker, and a third spending up to £15 in storeii. Not to mention the guaranteed rent we pay landlords, providing an additional income stream. With installation costs covered and minimal space requirements, hosting an InPost Locker is a strategic move that can really set a business apart from the competition – it’s a no-brainer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ross Ripamonti

Ross Ripamonti

Gum's Future: The Wrigley way

Gum is currently having a good spell (growing at a rate of +4.9 per cent while broad confectionery is basically flat), but we begin by addressing a couple of knotty, almost philosophical questions: first, is gum confectionery; and second, does gum really belong in the mints and gum subcategory?

If anybody has answers, it is Ross Ripamonti.

Keep ReadingShow less
Vince Lawson

Vince Lawson

Me and My Brand: Vince Lawson of Biotiful Gut Health

Can you please give an overview of your brand

Biotiful Gut Health was founded by figure skater and entrepreneur Natasha Bowes in 2012. Since creating the Kefir category in the UK, we’ve now got over seven million consumers improving their health with our delicious Kefir and are the number-one Kefir brand in the UK.

Keep ReadingShow less