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How Crisps are Made

Here, we explain exactly how Walkers crisps are made

At Walkers we take quality very seriously and our aim is to produce the best quality crisps day in day out with the best quality ingredients and then offer them to our consumer at the best possible value.

Here, we have created an easy-to-follow step by step guide to how potatoes are turned, miraculously, into Walkers crisps!

We have tracked the process with our special crisp clock-watcher and you can see that it takes 20 minutes from spud to pack.

Step 1 Only The Best Will Do!

Only the very best potatoes are selected to make Walkers crisps. The potatoes are thoroughly washed before being delivered to the factory in special lorries. They are then checked again for quality before they are allowed to enter the factory.

Any potato which appears damaged or in any other way inferior will not be used. Walkers use more than 350,000 tonnes of potatoes each year which is the equivalent of 17,000 truckloads.

Step 2 The Great Crisp Journey Starts

The potatoes pass through a number of processes where they are checked and double checked to ensure they are of the highest quality.

Then they are washed and peeled. Peeling time is 50 seconds. A specially trained operator checks the potatoes as they continue their journey through the slicing stage.

Step 3 The Cutting Edge

The 'river' of potatoes then pass through a number of slicers which cut the potatoes to an exact pre-set thickness. These now thin potato slices are then washed again to remove the starch, which prevents the new slices sticking together.

Step 4 We're Frying High

The slices are carried along the conveyor belt to the fryer when the actual process of turning the potatoes into crisps starts. Routine inspections are carried out along the production line to check or remove any defects.

Walkers' superior flavours are then applied evenly by the tumbling action of a drum. The newly-flavoured Walkers crisps pass on to the packaging stage.

Step 5 Seal of Approval

A team of specially trained laboratory technicians take regular samples of the product to carry out a number of tests including the taste and to ensure the product is meeting the best standards of quality for Walkers.

Step 6 Yet Another Check

Even at this late stage of production there is no let-up in the monitoring and checking processes.

The crisps are passed through a final detection process and then through the weighing machine to make sure that they meet the required weight specifications before they are put into packets.

Step 7 The Perfect Packet

The packets are date stamped with a 'best before' code and machine identification which enables Walkers to tell exactly which machine, which factory, which production line and at what time a particular packet of crisps was manufactured.

More specially trained operators check the packets, recording all the relevant information and making sure that the packets conform to the high standards that Walkers prides itself on maintaining.

Step 8 Hit the Road

Walkers' very own fleet of distinctively branded lorries head off in different directions of the country carrying thousands of packets of Walkers crisps and snacks to eventually fill the shelves of a supermarket, corner shop, pub, club or café near you so you can enjoy a packet of Walkers.....