According to Ian Parkinson, production manager: “We were having a rough time as potato farmers and needed to diversify.”Layish sees the recent rise of small, quality companies as being a force for good. Many are anxious however about the arrival of a large player in the form of Walkers, whose new Sensations range is not hand cooked but appears to be trying to jump on the premium crisp bandwagon at a lower price. Walkers were unforthcoming about the history and manufacturing methods of their Sensations range and their Gary Lineker-influenced, Mr-Nice-Guy image appears to mask a tougher approach to manufacturing than the designer crisp makers they appear to be trying to emulate.I was directed to the website which was aimed at children. But a look at the ingredients listed on the back of the packet shows that Sensations are fried in vegetable oil whereas most others use sunflower oil, and that some of the flavoured crisps include MSG – monosodium glutamate, an artificial flavour enhancer – as an ingredient. This is a cheap and easy way of adding flavour, despite the fact that many people can suffer nasty physical side effects from ingesting it. Walkers commented: “We appreciate that certain people can be adversely affected by monosodium glutamate.

If it is used in the manufacture of a certain product, then we ensure that it is listed separately in the ingredients declaration on the packet. This is in line with all EU rules and regulations.” None of the other upmarket potato chips shown here contain it, however.Given Britain’s reputation for trying any new snack, however bizarre, no crisp manufacturer worth their salt can content themselves with selling plain crisps when they could be exploiting marketing opportunities with product differentiation. Not content with hot chilli lemon flavour? How about Jersey Royal crisps or Red Russet potatoes. Whatever the variety of potato, the crisps will probably taste the same, but have different degrees of crunch, colour, shape and size. You can even change your crisps with the seasons – hence the appearance of Blue Stilton and Port, or Bloody Mary. And if the packet has the word flavour on the contents it means it’s not made with the real ingredients.Everyone is trying to develop their own unique-tasting crisps. Jack and Ollies, for example, who have been making potato chips for only four months, have created an intense-tasting pesto flavour.

Perhaps the most innovative come from Hot Juan’s, who created Hot Juan’s Chilli crisps five months ago as a means of selling their ground-dried habenero and chipotle chillies Publicans love them. Marks & Spencer have opted for seasonal potato varieties instead, thus Jersey Royals are now giving way to Red Duke of York, which will then be followed by King Edwards.Organic potatoes are also proving a popular new growth area for premium crisps. Kettle, for example, has found that their organic sales have increased by 30 per cent this year. The future of hand-cooked chips looks bright.Tesco Finest Lightly Salted Traditional Handcooked CrispsWhat it says on the packet: “A light salt seasoning gives a refined, distinctive taste to these hand cooked crunchy crisps made from premium potatoes.” £1.75 for 150g.Crunch points: “Good.