Buyer's guide to crisps

This is a free buyer's guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. We research the social and environmental records of companies.

More detailed versions of this guide are available. See the links at the bottom of the page.

The Pipers, Tra'fo Organic and Yorkshire Crisps brands come out best. These are followed by the widely available Seabrook brand.

Brand	Rating
Pipers crisps [A]	14.5
Seabrook crisps [A]	14
Tra'fo organic crisps [O]	14
Yorkshire crisps	14
Real Crisps (Ready Salted) [A]	12.5
Real Crisps (vegetarian) [A]	12.5
Tyrells vegan crisps [A]	12.5
Tyrells vegetarian crisps [A]	12.5
Burts crisps	12
Jonathan Crisp vegetarian crisps [A]	12
Real Crisps	12
Tyrells crisps	12
Golden Wonder crisps	11.5
Jonathan Crisp vegan crisps [A]	11.5
Kettle Organic Chips [O,A]	10.5
Kettle Chips (vegan) [A]	9.5
Kettle Chips (vegetarian) [A]	9.5
Kettle Chips	8.5
KP vegan crisps [A]	4.5
KP vegetarian crisps [A]	4.5
McCoys vegan crisps [A]	4.5
McCoys vegetarian crisps [A]	4.5
Doritos	4
Hula Hoops snacks	4
KP crisps	4
McCoys crisps	4
Phileas Fogg crisps	4
Skips crisps	4
Twiglets	4
Walkers crisps	4
Pringles crisps	0.5

The higher the rating the more ethical the brand. This whole scorecard was last updated from our database on 14 October 2009 but some individual company ratings may have changed since then. Up to the minute information can be seen by subscribers using Ethiscore.
Learn more about our ratings.

Crisps-mini report

The UK crisps market is mainly divided into large companies, often with poor ethical records and low Ethiscores, and small independent producers making 'gourmet' crisps. Unfortunately, although many of these smaller brands show some awareness of currently high-profile issues such as local sourcing, and sometimes issues such as vegetarianism and GM, engagement with wider impacts and transparency about environmental measures is poor. In particular, no company seemed to be seriously considering the issue of packaging. The best scoring brands come from local producers like Pipers and Yorkshire Crisps and organic company Faan Zuidhorn (Tra'fo brand).

Sorry. No downloadable research report available for this product.