Case study: Seabrook crisps

This content is part of our annual food and drink collaboration with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and the Food and Drink Exporters Association. Find out more about this feature at – https://opentoexport.com/info/food-and-drink-feature/

Seabrook crisps is a £30m turnover SME that has been producing crisps for the UK market for over 70 years. In October 2015, the decision was taken by the board to start to build an export business. This was driven by increasing consumer demand for premium crisps in international markets and investment in the factory to increase flexibility and capacity to deliver an International range.

Starting from scratch, Seabrook crisps had to ensure it was fit for purpose and the focus was primarily on two areas. One, ensuring that the product had adequate shelf life for International markets. Seabrook accelerated a development programme to move the shelf life from four months in the UK, to nine months for International markets. Two, Seabrook worked closely with the Food and Drink Exporters Association ( in terms of taking advice on appropriate markets, establishing routes to market and support required to launch. In addition, Seabrook worked hard to build up a network of support from the Food and Drink Federation, , UK Trade & Investment and the British Centre for Business.

As a result Seabrook crisps can now be found in Spain, Tenerife, Sweden, Malta, Kuala Lumpa and the UAE. Within the next month there will be further launches with major retailers in France, Hong Kong, mainland China and New Zealand. Whilst overall International turnover remains small within Seabrook the foundations for growth are strong with sales building month on month. The long term aspiration is to have International sales to 10% of the total business within three years.