Tayto (NI) acquires Golden Wonder group

TAYTO GROUP, the Northern Ireland-based snack foods business has formally acquired the British-based Golden Wonder snack group.

The deal sees the Tandragee-based company which has no relation with the C&C-owned Tayto brand in the Republic take over Golden Wonder's manufacturing facility in Scunthorpe and its brands, which include its eponymous crisps, Golden Lights and Ringos.

The Tayto Group was selected as Golden Wonder's preferred bidder earlier this month.

Golden Wonder went into administration in January after sales were hit by accelerated competition in the marketplace, particularly from players like Walkers Crisps. Tayto (NI), at that stage, bought Golden Wonder's 'Pringles Minis' snack unit at Corby saving almost 200 jobs in the process.

Yesterday's deal secured a further 551 Golden Wonder jobs and increased Tayto (NI)'s turnover from £15.06 million (€22 million) to £99.2 million (€145 million).

Commenting on the move, Tayto (NI) managing director, Stephen Hutchinson, said: "We have a very clear vision for our business and the sale of Golden Wonder provided us with an accelerated growth opportunity at exactly the right time. As a company we have invested heavily in gaining a reputation nationally as a top quality manufacturer with excellent management and production capabilities. We wanted to further expand our business into the rest of the United Kingdom, consolidating our core business in Tandragee and developing our reputation as a brand builder."