Quavers

Quavers are a British snack food, originally made by Smiths, and now produced by Walkers.

This article is about the snack food. For the type of musical note, see quaver.

History

Quavers were launched in 1968 with the advertising slogan "you get a lovely lot of Quavers in a bag", described as "curly potato puffs".[1] The brand was originally sold in cheese and smoky bacon flavours, but over the years flavours like Spicy Beef, Sweet and Sour, Prawn Cocktail, and Ketchup were also part of the range.

In 1993, a Salt and Vinegar flavour was added to the range, and by this time, the packaging transtioned to the Walkers brand name.

Walkers, owned by PepsiCo, purchased the Quavers brand in July 1995, when it became one of the Frito Lay International brand names.[2]

In 1996, a Tangy Tomato flavour was added to the range. By 1997, the brand was part of Walkers' short-lived "Snackshack" range, and was relaunched twice in 1998 and March 1999. The first relaunch coinsided with the return of Prawn Cocktail with a new recipe (as such, was branded as "New") replacing Tangy Tomato, while the second relaunch coincided with a newly refreshed Cheese flavour, and the discontinuation of Tangy Tomato.

In July 2002, a "Streaky Bacon" flavour was added to the range, which contained pink and brown pieces, that resembled bacon.[3]

In 2004, Ghost-shaped Cheese Quavers were released for Halloween, and returned in 2005.[4]

In February 2007, Walkers changed the packaging for Quavers, Wotsits, Squares, French Fries and Monster Munch. This packaging reflected the usage of sunseed oil, which was used in all products. The Multipack bags were in a different layout, being in Landscape style. Quavers' logo was changed slightly, and the flavours remained the same.[5]

In December 2009, Quavers, Wotsits, Squares, and French Fries all changed their packaging again to coincide with a "99 Calories or Less" range with a consumers’ focus on “New Year New Me”. [6] The Cheese flavour was reduced to 87 Calories.

In February 2011, Quavers packaging updated to a brighter bag colour with the Walkers logo on the packets again. After a while, the brand was sold in simply Cheese flavour.

In July 2013, the six-packs were reduced in size removing 30% of the wrapping but keeping the same


Ingredients

Quavers are currently available in Cheese, Prawn Cocktail and Salt and Vinegar, but have had many other varieties over the years.

The primary ingredient in Quavers is potato starch. They are deep fried to give a snack with a similar texture to krupuk (prawn crackers), but have a different flavour and are smaller with a curled-up rectangle shape (similar in cross-section to a quaver). the product line went on to introduce two other flavours, prawn cocktail and salt and vinegar.[5] These were discontinued in 2012. Ketchup and sweet and sour flavours were also introduced, but for a limited time only and are no longer available. In January 2021, Quavers returns two long-lost flavours (prawn cocktail and salt & vinegar) by popular demand.

Nutrition

A one pack (16.4 g) serving of regular Quavers contains 88 calories, of which 44 are from fat. Quavers contain a mixture of fats (4.9g): saturated fat 0.4g, polyunsaturated fat 0.6g and monounsaturated fat 3.8g. The sodium content is 170mg. Quavers have 88 calories in their Cheese flavour and 86 in the salt and vinegar variety.

Varieties

Main range
  • Cheese
  • Prawn cocktail
  • Salt and Vinegar
  • Bacon (discontinued)
  • Cheese and onion (discontinued)
  • Chinese Spicy Beef (discontinued)

Limited edition
  • Ketchup (discontinued)
  • Sweet and sour (discontinued)

Advertising

The first mascot of Quavers was a hyperactive cartoon dog named 'Colin Curly', created by Bob Lawrie and voiced by Lenny Henry who featured in many TV commercials. Colin also appeared in two Amiga and Atari ST puzzle games: Pushover (1992) and its sequel, One Step Beyond (1993), both published by Ocean.

The second was a boy named Quentin Quaverhead and his family. They were first seen in a memorable advertisement shown in 1996 (animated by Aardman), which featured Quentin trying to catch a Quaver that had blown out of his bedroom window, ending with the slogan "They're floaty light!"

References
  1. Opie, Robert The 1970s Scrapbook
  2. "Brands under Frito Lay". PepsiCo International. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  3. https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/quavers-rasher-behaviour/78716.article
  4. https://www.marketingweek.com/walkers-snacks-launches-halloween-quavers/
  5. "Walkers". PepsiCo UK. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  6. https://www.potatopro.com/news/2009/walkers-launches-99-calories-or-less-banner
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