Tyrrells's Aus acquisition reflects craft movement’s eastern surge

The acquisition is expected to ease the development of a manufacturing base for the country in the southern hemisphere.

Tyrrells has been present Down Under for the last 15 months, no doubt tempted by predictions of a market that will have grown to a value of A$3bn (US$2.2bn) by the end of the current financial year.

“We are delighted to be investing in Australian manufacturing​,” said David Milner, Tyrrell’s chief executive, adding that the crisp market there was “very buoyant​”.

“Our hand-cooked crisps have been extremely well ­received in Australia, where consumers value well-made food with provenance​.”

According to an assessment by Euromonitor International, craft snacks still remain limited to the western hemisphere, which is home to the world’s biggest snacking nations, with Britain perhaps being the obvious example. 

However, Australia and New Zealand, alongside the US and the Netherlands, are also showing signs of embracing the craft snack movement, with several niche brands mushrooming with innovative textures, flavours and ingredients. 

In Australia, Red Rock Deli from PepsiCo has outperformed the company’s flagship brand Lay’s over 2009-2014 in CAGR terms (5% vs 1%), though over the last two years sales have been falling.

In many markets, gourmet crisps, with flavours ranging from “flamegrilled Aberdeen angus​” and “red Leicester and caramelised onion​” to “asparagus and truffle​”, have captured the imagination of consumers increasingly looking for craft food and beverage products, says Pinar Hosafci, Euromonitor’s packaged food analyst.

“Tyrrells Hand Cooked English Crisps is perhaps the most well-known brand in Europe but there are many more out there, increasingly emphasising their hand-cooked potatoes and the place of origin the salt or vinegar is sourced from​,” said Hosafci.

In this latter segment, descriptions can often be hyperbolic, with examples like Modena balsamic, chardonnay wine, Somerset cider and the branded Aspall cyder. 

Because beer and crisps go hand in glove, it is no coincidence that gourmet snacks have been borrowing from the rapidly expanding craft beer movement to be seen as becoming more sophisticated with premium ingredients that emphasise heritage and provinciality. 

This is very clear in Tyrrells’s native UK, where on-trade establishments have been switching from serving mainstream brands like Carlsberg beer and Walkers crisps to offering small-batch products like Brooklyn Lager with Tyrrells. 

Gourmet snacks is a still niche segment, however, with sales negligible at a global level, but quickly picking up in the West in tandem with the parallel craft beer movement. 

“Increasingly, consumers seem to be willing to pay more for premium gourmet crisps which they perceive to be healthier than cheaper or standard varieties​,” added Hosafci. 

However, it remains to be seen whether it will be fad in the West or grow fast enough to trickle down to the wider East.