Keogh’s Crisps to boost production by 50% to meet demand

Keogh’s Crisps used about nine million potatoes last year in a record sales year for the company.

Chief executive of Keogh's Crisps Tom Keogh said the company is set to top last year's record revenues in the current year as sales continue to rise. Mr Keogh confirmed that the north Dublin-based family-owned business is to extend production capacity by 50 per cent in response to the surge in demand.

He hopes the extension to production capacity will be “live” by September, leading to an extra 10 to 12 jobs.

“We have just passed the 100 mark in terms of numbers employed which is fantastic,” he said.

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According to new accounts, the firm enjoyed a record sales year for the 12 months to the end of March 2021 thanks to “massive growth” in the firm’s 125g share-bag sales during the pandemic.

“Our export business and airline business vanished overnight due to Covid-19 but the Irish consumer really supported Irish brands during the pandemic and we are still enjoying that increase in popularity,” said Mr Keogh.

In this financial year to the end of March, the firm’s export market and airline business has made a strong recovery after Covid-19 shutdowns, he added.

Rebounding business

Exports account for 25 per cent of all sales “and I see that growing to 33 per cent over the next couple of years”, he said.

Keogh's supplies crisps to Emirates Airlines, and their airline business "is now almost back to pre-pandemic levels which we didn't forecast", he said.

The new accounts for Keogh’s Crisps Ltd show profits for the 12 months to the end of March 2021 increased by 14 per cent to €113,408.

At the end of March 2021, the firm was sitting on accumulated profits of €1.34 million, while cash funds totalled €849,772.

The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €545,647.

Mr Keogh described last year’s profits as “modest” and said in the current year due to rising costs “we are not forecasting an increase in profit, if anything it may be a decline”.

Transport is a major cost now. “The price of a container going into America has increased from €3,000 to €7,500 – €8,000 to €9,000 in [the] space of [the] last nine months,” he said.

Keogh’s has 11 per cent of the crisp market here, he said, and “is the only Irish-owned brand at mass market level”.