ONE MORE THING:RAY COYLE may still be polishing up his trophy after his recent victory in the entrepreneur of the year industry category, but the king of crisps may have some competition to worry about close to home.

Keogh’s potato growers, the sole potato supplier to Superquinn, is launching a range of crisps next week. The company has already secured listings in Superquinn and Tesco. Based just down the road from Coyle’s Largo Foods in Oldtown, north Co Dublin, the Keogh family has been farming for more than 200 years.

The younger generation of the family, brothers Tom and Ross and their cousin Derek, are leading the move into the crisp business.

Marketed under the name Keogh’s Crisps, the company is hoping to capitalise on its “natural” credentials. The company has invested €750,000 in the new product, which will be produced at a factory on-site.

Fourteen staff are currently employed, with numbers set to increase as the business expands; the Keoghs have their eye on the American market.

Coyle’s entrepreneurial tale followed a similar trajectory. Working as a potato farmer in the 1970s supplying firms such as Tayto, which then had about 85 per cent market share, Coyle saw an opening and launched his own crisp business, Largo Foods. In 2006 it acquired Tayto.

While it may be early days for Keogh’s crisp business, will this be a case of history repeating itself?