Keogh's Crisps aims to boost sales in Europe

Exports account for around a quarter of its sales.

New accounts for Keoghs Crisps Ltd show it posted a small profit in the 12 months to the end of March last year.  Picture: Denis Minihane.

Keogh’s Crisps plans to boost production by 50% in response to a surge in demand.

Tom Keogh, chief executive of the family-owned firm, said it is set to top last year’s record revenues as sales continue to rise. He hopes to have the additional capacity up and running by September, which will lead to the creation of up 12 new jobs. 

“We have just passed the 100 mark in terms of numbers employed, which is fantastic,” Mr Keogh said. The Co. Meath firm claims a 11% share of the market in the Republic and currently taps exports for around a quarter of its sales, a share which it now aims to increase significantly in the coming years.

One of its customers is Emirates Airlines whose orders have all but recovered to levels before the onset of the pandemic. Other big overseas customers include British supermarket chain Waitrose, Costco in the US, and Spinneys in Dubai. Its popcorn outsells crisps in the Middle East.        

“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 today,” Mr Keogh said. Escalating shipping costs means the firm will focus more on European markets, he said. 

Mr Keogh was commenting on new accounts for Keoghs Crisps Ltd which show it posted a small profit in the 12 months to the end of March last year. However, the firm was sitting on accumulated profits of over €1.3m.