
When I ask David Milner why Tyrrells is expanding into the Australian market, he doesn’t initially mention anything about crisps.
“What we look for is a trade [e.g retail industry] that is sophisticated enough to allow you to access consumers,” he says. “Australia is a mature, sophisticated market with very well run retailers, and a straightforward and efficient route to market, so it’s a very easy market to operate in. “The reason I’m not talking about people that like crisps is because crisps are a very ubiquitous product – I challenge you to go anywhere in the world that they don’t like crisps.” This universal enjoyment of crisps probably helps explain the rapid growth in international sales which the company has enjoyed- exports now account for 25 per cent of turnover for Tyrrells, and the crisps are available in more than 30 countries, including the US, Brazil and India. Founded in 2003 by Herefordshire potato farmer Will Chase, the brand has enjoyed a rapid rise in the UK market as part of a growing appetite for more sophisticated crisps. Chase sold a majority stake in the business to private equity firm Langholm Capital in 2008. It was since acquired by Bahrain-based investors Investcorp, but operations continue to be based in the UK. Turnover has doubled in the past three years and the company now employs 270 people. I’m curious to find out how, given its major international presence, the company avoids becoming spread too thin.“Being English is quite cool at the moment so we’re really, really lucky”He says he doesn’t believe in advertising anymore, and so Tyrrells has never advertised in the conventional sense, focussing instead on PR and what Milner calls “packvertising” – the eccentrically English packaging designs which the company has become known for. Milner says that being an English brand is a massive asset in the overseas markets they operate in. “Being English is quite cool at the moment so we’re really really lucky,” he says. “The Olympics, the Royal Family, people think English stuff is high quality, whether you’re Burberry, Land Rover, any number of British brands around the world. “You’ve got such an advantage because whole world thinks it’s good quality and they genuinely quite like our stuff – even in France where they pretend they don’t like it!”
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