So, what about that salt? "We do need salt in our diet", explains Bouchier-Hayes, "and the amount of salt that we would need as adults is about four grams, but we generally take about six grams. It changes throughout life. For a one to three year old, it will be two grams of salt. It changes as we grow so for a four to six year olds, you need three grams of salt. For a seven to 10 year old, then maybe about five grams of salt per day. The front of this Tayto cover says, “The original Irish crisp”, but I’d be surprised if these were the ingredients used in the 1950s. C&C Group says to sell Tayto Crisps to Largo Food for 62.3 mln eur". Forbes. 7 May 2006. [ dead link] Where is Mr. Tayto?". Where's Mr. Tayto?. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022 . Retrieved 22 May 2022. Since visiting the factory I’ve been doing non-stop taste tests on friends and family. Photograph: Alan Betson

Martin Clinton wanted to keep the centuries-old tradition of Clintons growing potatoes alive for generations to come. Photograph: Alan BetsonFrom RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, interview with Tom Keogh, founder and managing director of Keogh’s Crisps a b Casey, Ann. "Opening of Tayto Park near Ashbourne brings 85 jobs". The Meath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018 . Retrieved 13 December 2011. In the early 2000s, the company targeted the healthy eating market, with its low salt, low fat crisps, originally branded as Honest. [14] Tayto referred to this range as the Happy & Healthy range. [15] The healthy range has since evolved and Tayto have launched Tayto Lentils which is 40% less fat to target the healthy eating market. [16] Clintons have been farming potatoes in Skerries, in north Co Dublin, since the 1700s. Martin Clinton took over from his father, who took over from his, while brother Sean went to college to study food science. Growing up the boys were put to work early.

Joe 'Spud' Murphy: The Man Who Gave Potato Chips Flavor". HuffPost. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014 . Retrieved 1 October 2017. Obituary: Joe 'Spud' Murphy". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 5 November 2001. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018 . Retrieved 8 January 2011. Firstly, don’t always expect to find any cheese. Hunky Dorys, another Largo brand, makes cheese and onion flavour crinkle cut crisps using potatoes and sunflower oil, but no cheese. Tayto was founded in 1954 in Dublin by a local man known as Joe 'Spud' Murphy, who is credited with having invented the world's first flavoured crisp. [10] Crisps: does anyone make them better than the British and Irish, and what are your favourite varieties from home or abroad? And would you bother to make your own?The crisps make their way down, jumping into the flavour tunnel and dancing along it, looking like they’re having the time of their life – and for the record, there is no crisp as delicious as one still warm from the fryer that’s been given a salt and vinegar coat just seconds beforehand. Pringles are very different and are as natural as they taste. The main ingredient is “dehydrated potatoes”, which is formed into the concave shapes using corn flour. These also have rice flour and wheat starch. In addition to MSG and dextrose, these have more flavour enhancers in the form of disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate, which aid the perception of a savoury flavour. The Clintons have been farming potatoes in Skerries, Co Dublin, since the 1700s. Photograph: Alan Betson

Potatoes suitable for making crisps are different to potatoes for mash or chips. They need to be low in sugar to remain stable over long periods of time. The Clintons use varieties like Lady Rosetta, Amarilla and Kibitz, grown in Skerries fields which look as if they drop off into the Irish Sea below. Potatoes can only be grown in a field one out of five years, so each year they swap fields with their neighbours for crop rotation. Everyone knows each other around here. Heat a large, deep pan about a third full with oil to 160C/320F. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes and dry very well with kitchen towels. Irish brothers Sean and Martin Clinton have set out to make the best crisps when they dreamt up Clintons Crisps 3½ years ago, and they’re so convinced they’ve done it that they’ve put “world’s best crisps” on the front of the bag. Video: Alan Betson Whatever it is, an educated guess might conclude that your favourite crisp is probably Irish, because few do it better than we do - this is, after all, the spiritual home of the potato. Think of the rows over Irish Tayto versus UK Tayto, Irish King versus UK King. We’re just really good at crisps. So wouldn’t it make sense that if the best crisps in the whole world were going to be made anywhere, it would be here?The process begins with potatoes getting loaded into a drum and spun around on something similar to a giant emery board to take off excess skin or imperfections. Once smooth, they travel up a conveyor belt and into a huge weighing scale that stops when it reaches the required weight. At the same time the rapeseed oil is heating in what looks like an ogre’s bath. Once it reaches the right temperature, the giant weighing scale starts spitting out potatoes, which go flying into a circular machine, cutting them into slices between 50-70 thousands of an inch, and spinning them out and into the oil below like tiny frisbees. In 2005, Tayto closed its crisp factory and Largo Foods won the contract for the manufacture of the whole range of Tayto products. The story continues in August, 2006, when Largo Foods acquired the Tayto and King brands from C&C plc for €62m. Clintons Crisps are gluten and cholesterol free, and the salt-and-vinegar and steak flavours are vegan. Photograph: Alan Betson Renowned for his self-belief and persistence in pursuing projects to the end, Coyle also had a keen eye for marketing. He was behind some of Ireland’s most innovative promotions such as running Mr Tayto as a spoof candidate in the 2007 general election and publishing a best-selling biography of the crisp mascot. The use of women in suggestive poses to promote his Hunky Dory crisps fell foul of advertising standards, however, as did a claim to be the main sponsor of Irish rugby when the brand was a sponsor of Navan RFC at the time. After that, Coyle used the crisp brand to promote four Irish sportswomen — boxer Katie Taylor, athlete Derval O’Rourke, sailor Annalise Murphy and his daughter, Natalya Coyle, a pentathlete — in the London Olympics in 2012.

The Coyle family continues to run Tayto Park as a family business, with Ray and wife Rosamund’s son Charles working as the general manager. Their daughter Natalya is a professional athlete who represented Ireland in the modern pentathlon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The iconic red King bag is recognisable everywhere and has witnessed merely subtle changes since its inception in the 1960's."All of them tended to have up around one gram of salt per 100 grams of crisps. It did vary, with King crisps having 1.4 grams and then Kettle crisps slightly less at 0.9 grams per 100 grams. These were salted crisps. King crisps, to be fair to them, were cheese and onion crisps. And the Taytos, by comparison, were 1.5 grams of salt per 100 grams. After this comes what will from now on be referred to as the flavour tunnel. The crisps have risen up a conveyor belt and wait in a clear plastic box. Once the lab results are clear, a button is pressed, the flavour tunnel starts to spin, and an airborne mist of salt and vinegar shoots up your nose. It’s the best possible thing you could have shoot up your nose. The company is entirely separate from Tayto Group Limited in Northern Ireland, which has different product ranges. Tayto in the Republic of Ireland owns the name and mascot, and Tayto in Northern Ireland uses both under a licensing agreement. The Northern Irish Tayto is widely sold in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain, while the Republic of Ireland brand is sold in the Republic. After 35 years, the iconic face of Tayto Crisps has stepped away from his company". Fora.ie. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019 . Retrieved 19 May 2019.