Walkers
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{{Unreferenced|date=March 2008}}
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{{Infobox_Company |
company_name = Walkers |
company_logo = [[Image:Walkers logo.png]]|
company_type = [[Private company|Private]] |
foundation = 1880s |
location = {{flagicon|UK}} [[Leicester]], [[United Kingdom]] |
industry = [[Snacks]] |
products = [[#Product lines|See below]] |
parent = [[Frito-Lay]] |
homepage = [http://www.walkers.co.uk/ www.walkers.co.uk]
}}
[[Image:Salt-and-Vinegar.JPG|thumb|A pack of Walkers "Salt and Vinegar" crisps]]
'''Walkers''' is a [[snack food]] manufacturer in [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]] best known for manufacturing [[Potato chip|crisps]].
==History==
In the 1880s Henry Walker moved from [[Mansfield]] to [[Leicester]] to take over an established [[butcher]]'s shop in the high street. Meat [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|rationing after World War II]] saw the factory output drop dramatically and the company looked at alternatives to make use of the wasted capacity. With potato crisps being increasingly popular with the public, managing director R.E. Gerrard helped the company shift focus and began hand-slicing and frying potatoes.
==Present day==
Jon Walkers is now owned by [[Frito-Lay]], which in turn is a subsidiary of [[Pepsico]]. It is still a significant presence in Leicester and sponsor [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] [[football (soccer)|football]] team's stadium, the [[Walkers Stadium]]. [[Gary Lineker]], formerly a Leicester City footballer, is now the face of the company, starring in most of their [[advertising]] campaigns. The official website states that an estimated "11 million people will eat a Walkers product every day". The company employs over 4000 people in 15 locations.
In 2000, Walkers' 1995 advert starring [[Gary Lineker]] was named the 9th best television commercial of all time, in a poll conducted by ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'' and [[Channel 4]].
In February 2006, Walkers changed their brand label and [[typeset]]. They also announced they were to reduce the [[saturated fat]] in their crisps by 70%.<ref>[http://www.walkers-eathappy.co.uk/less_fat.html Walkers Crisps - Better for you | less saturated fat]</ref> They once again changed their packaging style in June 2007, rather similar to the logo used from 1998- 2006.
As of late 2006, the company has added nutrition values on the front of the Walkers crisps packets.
Many of [[Walkers]] brands were formerly branded under the '''Smiths Crisps''' name. This comes from the time when Walkers, Smiths and [[Tudor Crisps]] were the three main brands of [[Nabisco|Nabisco's]] [[UK]] snack division with Tudor being marketed mainly in the north of England and Walkers in the south. After the takeover by Pepsico the Tudor name was dropped and the Smiths brand has gradually been phased out in favour of Walkers.
The only products currently retaining the Smiths brand are Salt & Vinegar and Ready Salted [[Chipsticks]], [[Frazzles]] and the "Savoury Selection", which includes Bacon Flavour Fries, Scampi Flavour Fries and [[Cheese Flavoured Moments]].
In 1997, Walkers became the brand name of the [[Quavers]] and [[Monster Munch]] snacks.
In 2002 Walkers bought [[Wotsits]] from [[Golden Wonder]].
In 2007 Walkers launched Sunbites, a range of crisps made using wholegrains.<ref>[http://www.sunbites.co.uk Sunbites website]</ref>
Notably, Walkers package their cheese and onion crisps in blue packets, and salt and vinegar in green. This is the opposite to most other crisp manufacturers, such as [[McCoys Crisps]] and [[Golden Wonder]]'s traditional livery.
==Product lines==
===Flavours (Packet Colours)===
*BBQ Rib (Black)
*Cajun Spice (Salmon Pink)
*Cheddar Cheese (Orange)
*Cheese & Onion (Blue)
*Chilli & Lemon (Yellow/Red)
*Heinz Tomato Ketchup (Dark Red)
*Marmite (Yellow)
*Pickled Onion (Lime Green)
*Prawn Cocktail (Pink)
*Ready Salted (Red)
*Roast Chicken (Orange)
*Salt & Vinegar (Green)
*Smoky Bacon (Burgundy)
*Steak & Onion (Brown)
*Worcester Sauce (Purple)
*Ploughman's (Dark Green)
*Roast Gammon (Dark Pink)
*Sweet Cumberland Sausage (Dark Gold)
===Variations===
*Lights (formerly Lites) (Low fat)
**Salt and Vinegar
**Cheese and Onion
**Simply Salted (Ready Salted)
**Roast Chicken
*Potato Heads (Low fat with no artificial colours/flavourings/preservatives)
**Prawn Cocktail
**Cheese and Onion
**Ready Salted
**Roast Chicken
**Salt and Vinegar
*Cheese Heads (Similar to Potato Heads)
*Baked
**Cheese & Onion
**Ready Salted
**Salt & Vinegar
**[[Sour Cream]] & Onion (Limited Edition)
**Bacon & Cheddar
*Max
**Cheese and Onion
**Chargrilled Steak
**[[Paprika]]
*[[Salt 'n' Shake]]
**Original
*Sensations
**Gently Infused [[Salmon (fruit)|Salmon]] & [[Thailand|Thai]] Spices
**[[Lamb (food)|Lamb]] with [[Morocco|Moroccan]] Spices
**Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon & [[Thyme]]
**[[Sea salt|Sea Salt]]
**Vintage [[Cheddar|Cheese]] & Onion [[Chutney]]
**Thai Sweet Chilli
''These flavours replaced the original Sensations flavours in the Spring of 2006. The original flavours were:''
**Chargrilled Steak & Pepper Sauce
**Four Cheese and Onion
**Oven Roast Chicken & Thyme
**Roast Lamb & Mint Sauce
**Roasted Onion & Balsamic Vinegar
**Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
**Thai Sweet [[Chilli pepper|Chilli]]
*Sensations Oriental Crackers
*Sensations [[Poppadom]] Bites
*Squares
**Salt and Vinegar
**Ready Salted
**Cheese and Onion
===Pack sizes===
4 common pack sizes.
*34.5g standard bags
*25g "multipack" bags
*50g (formerly 55g) "Big Eat" bags, produced primarily for the pub trade
*Cinema size bag sold in some cinemas, around 70g
The 50g bag size for the pub trade was produced following a survey by Walkers regarding the average size of a social group in a pub, and the average number of crisps people would take when a bag was passed around; on average, the purchaser should be left with the same weight of crisps in their Big Eat bag after passing it around their friends as would be found in a standard 34.5g pack.
===Other types of snack food===
*Chipsticks
**Ready Salted
**Salt and Vinegar
*[[Doritos]]
**Cool Original
**Smoky Bacon
**Chilli Heatwave
**Dippas Lightly Salted
**Dippas Hint Of Lime
**Chilli Heatwave
*French Fries
**Cheese and Onion
**Salt and Vinegar
**Ready Salted
**Worcester Sauce
*[[Frazzles]]
**Bacon
*Squares
** Ready Salted
**Cheese and Onion
**Salt and Vinegar
*[[Quavers]]
**Cheese
**Prawn Cocktail (multipack only)
**Salt and Vinegar (multipack only)
*[[Monster Munch]]
**Pickled Onion
**Flamin'Hot
**Roast Beef (multipack only)
*[[Wotsits]]
**Cheese
**Flamin'Hot (multipack only)
**Prawn Cocktail (multipack only)
*Snaps
**Spicy Tomato
==References==
<references />
==External links==
*[http://www.walkers.co.uk/ Official site]
[[Category:Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Frito-Lay brands]]
[[Category:Brand name snack foods]]
[[Category:British brands]]
[[Category:British snack foods]]
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Companies based in Leicestershire]]
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