Former Seabrook Crisps MD John Tague has created a bagged snacks brand that he believes could claim a 10% share of the crisps market.

Tague, who is credited with taking Seabrook from £11m to £30m turnover before he left the business in 2011, has rolled his mainstream Tags crisp brand out to 469 Poundland stores and has also gained listings in B&M.

The Tags range comprises 125g sharing bags of hand-cooked chips in malt vinegar & sea salt, sweet chilli, and mature Cheddar & red onion flavours, and multipacks of six 25g bags. Both ranges carry a £1.69 rsp but are available for a limited period at £1 in Poundland.

Tague said he had developed a passion for brand building in his time at Seabrook, and created Tags last year as a family business. The crisps, which are made in Ireland, were trialled in Poundland late last year ahead of a full rollout over the Easter weekend.

Tague added that he planned to expand the range and claim a 10% share of the £2.5bn crisp market within 10 years.

“I don’t underestimate the challenge but believe this is achievable,” he said. “Our focus is on quality, and I think some retailers will welcome a new mainstream range outside the big players.”

The UK crisp market is currently dominated by PepsiCo, owner of the Walkers brand, which accounts for almost a third of the category and grew 7.6% last year to £724.4m [Nielsen 52 w/e 29 December 2012]. Other major suppliers include KP Snacks and Kellogg’s, which bought the Pringles brand last year, while own-label makes up around a fifth of the market.

Tague said his relatively low overheads meant he could compete with other crisp producers in terms of promotional activity, adding that one major supermarket was “very interested” in listing the brand.

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