Cheese and onion? No, I’ll have a bag of langoustine and lemon
Posh crisps just got EVEN posher!
ReMeMBeR when an exciting crisp flavour meant Pickled onion rather than Ready salted?
A glance at the crisp aisle in even the smallest corner shop shows you how things have moved on.
We Brits love our crisps and spent an estimated £1,373 million on them last year, according to retail analyst Mintel.
It says the market value went up 14 per cent in the past five years — quite a feat, given the growing trend for carb-avoidance.
According to the supermarkets, much of this rise is down to the trend for ‘posh crisps’: sophisticated snacks that have probably been hand-baked (rather than fried), often with the skins left on (extra fibre and taste) and in a range of flavours that sounds like a smart restaurant menu (salt marsh lamb and mint, anyone?)
Deborah Clarke, the Co-op’s crisp buyer, says: ‘our customers see posh crisps as an affordable indulgence and premium snacks are becoming a key part of this.’
As a result of the competition in this lucrative market, product developers are coming up with new flavours, and this summer’s are the most sophisticated yet.
Hand-cooked is a big trend, as are flavours with provenance: langoustines from the clear waters off scotland, roast beef from Devon and sea salt from the Hebrides. Here’s our pick of the best . . . Scottish Langoustines with Dill & Lemon Handcooked Crisps, £2 for 150g, M&S. THese thinly sliced, skin- on crisps are made with actual langoustines ( as opposed to langoustine flavour) fished from scottish waters and potatoes grown in Herefordshire. open a bag and the smell of the seaside leaps out at you — an authentic flavour that goes beautifully with chilled white Burgundy. Market Deli Potato Chips with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, 83p per single bag or £2.39 for a sharing bag, most supermarkets. FoRgeT the sticky bottle of vinegar you see at chip shops, these crisps are flavoured with only the best Aceto Balsamico di Modena PgI, and you can taste the difference — the vinegar is full-bodied, warming and slightly sweet. A grown-up, sophisticated flavour. Dilly & Wolf Hebridean Sea Salt Seaweed & Malt Vinegar Chisps 35g, £1.59, Ocado. THese could hardly look more upmarket, coming in a little round pot, and their ingredient list reads like a superfood checklist: chickpeas, spelt flour, roasted fava beans and seaweed. Crisps made of chickpeas — hence the name — they are dark from the seaweed and have a lovely vinegary punch. Tyrell’s Summer Butter & Mint Crisps 150g, £2.19, Waitrose. lAUNCHeD last week, these crisps may sound odd but they’re meant to taste of summery new potatoes dripping with butter and scattered with torn mint leaves. And, funnily enough, they do! Burts British Hand-cooked Devon Roast Beef Potato Chips, £1.50 for 199g, farm shops, independent retailers and delis nationwide. THIs is the latest flavour from the Devon- based crisp company that names the field the potatoes were grown in on the back of each bag. Thick-cut crisps with no artificial flavourings or colourings, they were created with organic beef from The Well Hung Meat Company and, not surprisingly, they taste very meaty and good indeed. Walker’s Sensations Chilli & Goat’s Cheese 150g, £2.20, or buy one get one free, Costcutter. eVeN the mainstream brands are getting in on the posh crisp act, and goat’s cheese and chilli work really well together. Salt Marsh Lamb & Mint Handcooked Crisps, £2 for 150g, M&S. THese skin- on crisps are flavoured with tender British salt marsh lamb and, gosh, they taste like it! If you did a blind tasting you’d know straight away these were lamb flavour. Utterly delicious. Mr Trotter English Mustard Great British Pork Crackling, £1.90 for 60g, Booths, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and independent delis. oK, they’re not strictly a crisp, but this delicious range of gourmet crackling is the ‘strictly snack’ for you if you’re trying to cut back on your carbohydrate intake.