My top ten retro choccy bars went down a treat so this time it's the turn of retro snacks. Once again some have faded out of existence and some have hung around in a shrunken version of their former selves.
It may look like there's only a couple of Walkers products in the list but actually Smiths and Walkers were two of the three brands used by Nabisco (aka National Biscuit Company), the company who makes Oreo's and Ritz Crackers. Walkers was taken over by Lay's crisps owner Frito-Lay which is part of the PepsiCo company. When this happened most of the snacks were given the Walkers brand bar Chipsticks and Frazzles which kept the Smiths brand. Although I did notice Snaps were originally branded as Walkers and then later Smiths.
Walkers gained Wotsits from Golden Wonder. KP, owned at the time by United Biscuits, also acquired some of Golden Wonders snacks, Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks. KP is now owned by a German company called Intersnack. So from this we can ascertain that now just a couple of massive companies dominate the UK snack market and they're not British anymore.
I haven't done as much research this time around, no year of introduction or slogans. Maybe I got lazy by eating too many of these delicious snacks. Anyway it's now time to reminisce about the ones I ate that were great.
10 Nik Naks - Scampi & Lemon by Golden Wonder (Now KP)
Weird shapes chunks of scampi and lemon flavored corn.
09 Frazzles by Smiths
Shaped like bacon, tasted like bacon. As a kid I was convinced it was bacon.
08 Cheese & Onion Crisps by Walkers
Classic tangy and sharp cheese and onion flavour
07 Daily Fish 'n' Chips by Burtons
Two flavours in one pack. The chips weren't up to much but the fish were so very fishy
06 Mr Porky - Pork Scratchings by Red Mill
Top quality very crunchy pork skin with no hairy bits. Usually found in pubs.
05 Discos - Salt and Vinegar by KP
So salty they used to dry the tongue. These even rivaled Chipsticks salt levels.
04 Brannigans - Beef and Mustard by KP
Thick and chunky slices that tasted like a Sunday roast dinner
03 Snaps - Spicy Tomato by Walkers
Unique at the time. Nobody else seemed to me making tomato flavoured snacks. Just used to melt in your mouth and leave that special tomato taste lingering behind.
02 Wheat Crunchies - Worcester Sauce by Golden Wonder (Now KP)
Thick and crunchy tube snack. The worcester sauce flavour had a real kick to it and I believe this was before Walkers introduced the flavour.
01 Monster Munch - Pickled Onion by Smiths (Now Walkers)
This had to be number one. It had originality on so many levels. The shape of the snack, the size of the snack and the most original and intense flavour ever. It actually tasted like real pickled onions. Amazing.
As before I don't forget the also rans. So here are some more honorable mentions that didn't quite make it into my top ten.
Horror Bags Fangs & Bones by Smiths
I actually remember the packaging more than the flavours.
Outer Spacers by KP
2001 A Space Odyssey in a bag
Rancheros by KP
They sure taste like bacon ... (But not as much as Frazzles)
Sky Divers by KP
Maybe the cutest snack in this post. Little mini skydivers.
Chipsticks by Smiths
Very salty chip snack, A close second to Discos
Quavers by Smiths
So light and moreish. A cheesy curly version of snaps.
Last but not least his are a couple of snacks that I wouldn't call retro but if they were they may have had a chance of knocking off pickled onion monster munch from the top spot. So I feel it's only fair to give them a mention too.
Mini Chedders Crinklys Cheese and Onion. Dorito's Chilli Heatwave and Cool Original.
If you feel I've missed out an amazing snack or you have your own top ten your comments are more than welcome. Happy Snacking.
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