HE’S ALREADY been to Moldova and to Libya and now Mr Tayto is set for a six-month trial in China. Ray Coyle’s Largo Foods has secured a listing in 1,200 stores in Shanghai, including French chain Carrefour.
Two containers of crisps will be shipped from Ashbourne each week as Coyle dips his toe in the world’s biggest consumer market.
Ironically, the shipping costs are almost the same as sending a consignment to London. “There’s loads of containers going back to China empty so we can get them for about €1,400 or €1,500. If you go to London it would cost you €1,250,” he told me this week.
“There’s a great opportunity there for us.” Back home, Coyle says Tayto’s volumes this year are slightly up, but the increase is mostly accounted for by discounted bulk-buying in supermarkets rather than “impulse” buying.
“Business is better than last year.”
His Hunky Dory crisp, meanwhile, has gained 5 per cent volume growth from its cheeky rugby advert campaign. “It was naughty, but it got people talking.”
