The Nando’s restaurant brand is going head to head with premium crisp brands Kettle Chips and Tyrrells with the launch of Nando’s Peri-Peri Chips this month .

Produced by Devon-based Burts Chips, the 150g sharing bags will be available in 400 Tesco stores nationwide from 5 November.

They come in three flavours - Peri-Peri Chicken, Smokey BBQ Peri-Peri and Hot Peri-Peri - and are £1.59 a bag, the same price as Kettle Chips and 10p cheaper than Tyrrells.

Phil Lynas, managing director of The Grocery Company, which owns the license to sell and market Nando’s products in the UK, said he was “fully aware” of how tough the category was, but had confidence the new Nando’s range offered something different for consumers.

“More than 40% of shoppers are now enjoying spicy foods on a regular basis, and this range offers them just that,” he said. “We haven’t copied Kettle or Tyrrells. Nando’s restaurants are all about sharing, socialising and spice, and the new chips have the same appeal.”

The news came as it emerged that three weeks ago the company had pulled its two ambient chip dips after two years . Perinaise and Peri-Peri Salsa dips had been withdrawn from shelves due to “market cost” and a “consumer shift to chilled options”, Lynas revealed.

Much more is expected of the crisps, which have already proven “very successful” in South Africa, according to Lynas.

Hot Peri-Peri was the spiciest of the three variants, he said, but a couple more “challenging” flavours were on the way.

The company had not ruled out a return to the dip market in the future either, he added. “Only own-label and Doritos seem to be surviving in the ambient dips market at the moment, with the movement seemingly towards chilled products, but we may look at that market again.”

Sales of Tyrrells and Kettle Chips have grown 51% and 26% respectively over the past year. Nando’s Peri-Peri sauces are a major player in the chilli sauces market, with the marinades commanding 32% of the market, according to the company’s figures.

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