Tayto buys Portlebay Popcorn and Tavern Snacks

Northern Ireland crisp and snack producer, Tayto, has bought London-based Tavern Snacks and partly acquired Devon-based company, Portlebay Popcorn.

Tayto Group already has a portfolio of well-known names in the snack world, such as Tayto, Golden Wonder, Mr Porky, REAL Crisps and Jonathan Crisp.

This is the company’s first purchase of a popcorn manufacturer and Tayto has acquired just over 75% of Portlebay, bringing the group’s plant ownership to six.

The sale, which was completed last week, comes shortly after the purchase of Tavern Snacks.

Portlebay currently supplies stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-Op and a number of independent retailers, mainly in the south of England.

The popcorn producer was the first company to list the popular ‘crispy bacon and maple syrup’ popcorn flavour.

This variety is one of their best-selling lines, while other flavours include ‘chilli and lime’ and the more traditional ‘lightly salted’ and ‘sweet and salty’.

Tayto CEO, Paul Allen, said: “We are really impressed with the innovation and enthusiasm of the Portlebay team and they make a first-class, premium product.  While they will continue to run the business independently from Tayto, we
shall of course provide access to all the wider Group capabilities and we are looking forward to seeing significant growth.
“The purchase of Tavern has allowed us to diversify both by adding another brand and also by introducing their range of nuts to our portfolio.  We are now producing crisps in Tandragee which are being sold under the Tavern name all around London.”

The Tayto Group’s headquarters are at Tayto Castle in Co Armagh and Tayto remains Northern Ireland’s most popular crisp brand, producing more than one million crisps and snacks at its Tandragee site each day.

Tavern Snacks was founded in the 1970s and sells crisps and nuts, mainly to the licensed trade in the Greater London area. The company also supplies a huge range of other products, including bar supplies confectionery, pickled eggs, mussels and cockles.