Crisp maker Keogh’s set to fry high with UK contracts

Dublin-based crisp maker Keogh's has secured significant contracts with two large UK retailers. The two-year old brand has been listed in 120 stores by supermarket giant Tesco while online retailer Ocado will begin selling the Irish crisps from September.

Ocado has also agreed to list Keogh’s potatoes, which are produced at the family farm in north county Dublin and are used to make the crisps.

"We're delighted with these contracts and business is going well for us right now," co-founder Tom Keogh told The Irish Times yesterday.

Keogh’s crisps were carried in more than 700 Tesco stores around St Patrick’s Day this year when its shamrock and sour cream flavour played well with the theme of the day. The crisps have also been available in Tesco’s Irish stores for some time.

This helped to pave the way for its current contract in the UK, which began about six weeks ago. Tesco UK carries the shamrock and sour cream, and Dubliner Irish cheese and onion flavours. Keogh’s crisps are also available in Selfridges in the UK, along with three retailers in the US and it has wide distribution in Ireland.

Mr Keogh said the crisp company will achieve revenues of close to €1 million this year, although it is yet to reach profitability. “We’re very close.” he added.

He owns the business with his brother and cousin and they have invested about €1.2 million to date.

This included €600,000 on a new production line last November, with employee numbers doubling to 14.

“We’re really happy with how the business is growing. It’s self-financing and we’ve no need to bring in external investors.”