Keogh’s Crisps has inked a UK distribution deal with IB Group – Bobby’s Foods.
The tie-up would see more of Keogh’s Crisps being shipped across the Irish Sea, with Co-op, Costcutter and Nisa set to stock the brand.
People in the UK “can expect to see more of our popular farm flavours on shelf”, said CEO Tom Keogh, whose crisps have been sold in Waitrose since last year and feature a range of flavours, including Cashel Blue (cheese) & Caramelised Onion, Atlantic Sea Salt & Irish Cider Vinegar and Guinness & Oyster.
Available in 17 markets outside Ireland, including Australia, Malaysia, Switzerland and the US, Keogh’s Crisps recently landed a deal to supply Ryanair flights – a coup that followed similar agreements with Singapore Airlines and Emirates. The decade-old brand built a name for itself at home by using Atlantic Ocean salt on crisps cut from potatoes grown on the Keogh family plot on the outskirts of Dublin.
The new UK deal follows Keogh’s Crisps last month winning the Irish Exporters Association’s prestigious ‘exporter of the year’ award, fending off competition from businesses in sectors such as construction, data management and transport. Keogh’s, which describes its production as “certified carbon neutral from crop to crisp”, also won the food and drink exporting gong ahead of the likes of Irish Country Meats and Lir Chocolates.
Announcing the awards, the IEA said Keogh’s had shown “impressive innovation, passion, and growth strategy”, in turn leading to “fast-growing success in very competitive markets”. Keogh’s said in March that exports made up a quarter of sales.
International trade remained key to economic growth last year in Ireland – which the IEA described as an “island-nation at Europe’s periphery”. Official data collated by the World Bank showed Ireland’s trade-GDP ratio at 229% in 2021.
Similarly, other small or medium-sized economies in Europe, including Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, showed trade-GDP ratios of between 100%-200%. Bigger economies, where large domestic markets and bigger production bases typically meant less emphasis on trade, showed lower ratios, with the UK’s at 55% and France’s at 58%.
