Tayto (Republic of Ireland)
Tayto Crisps is a crisps and popcorn manufacturer within Ireland, founded by Joe Murphy in May 1954 and owned by German snack food company Intersnack. Tayto invented the first flavoured crisp production process. The first seasoned crisps produced were Cheese & Onion. Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique. Tayto crisps are a cultural phenomenon throughout much of the Republic of Ireland, so much so that in November 2010, Tayto opened their own theme park called "Tayto Park" near Ashbourne. Tayto Crisps manufactured in the Republic of Ireland should not be confused with  Tayto in Northern Ireland, which is a completely separate brand. The Northern Irish Tayto is widely sold in County Donegal. Ownership. The Republic of Ireland company Tayto was owned by Largo Foods. It was previously owned by Cantrell and Cochrane, and was based in Coolock, County Dublin, until their factory was closed in September 2005 when production was outsourced to Largo. Largo agreed to purchase the brand from C. & C. in May 2006 for €62.3 million. In 2015, Ray Coyle sold his remaining shares of Largo foods to German food company Intersnack, ending the Irish ownership of the company . In Northern Ireland, Tayto Limited is still Northern Irish-owned, being owned and run by the Hutchinson family. Brands. Tayto crisps come in several flavours: Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Smokey Bacon, Prawn Cocktail, and the limited edition flavour Tex Mex. In the early 2000s, the company targeted the healthy eating market, with its low salt, low fat crisps, originally branded as "Honest". Tayto currently refers to this range as the "Happy & Healthy range". Tayto also produce a number of other ranges of products: Nuts and Popcorn Range Snacks Range Happy and Healthy Range Sharing Range Marketing. Tayto has used its  mascot, "Mr Tayto", in a number of marketing campaigns with previous endorsers such as Westlife. In the 2007 Irish General Election, Tayto ran an advertising campaign with Mr Tayto as a fake election candidate. Tayto claimed that the number of spoiled votes in the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency indicate that some actually voted for their mascot, but this is purely speculative. Tayto was fined during the campaign for littering, due to its fake election posters being posted in public places. In 2009, Tayto Ltd. published "The Man Inside the Jacket", a fictional autobiography of Mr Tayto written by Maia Dunphy, Ciaran  Morrison and Mick O'Hara. Tayto indicated that a percentage of the cover price would go to Irish charity Aware. Tayto Park. In November 2010, Tayto, in association with Ray Coyle, a local businessman, opened a theme park, "Tayto Park", near Ashbourne in County Meath In February 2022, it was announced that the existing title sponsorship contract would not be renewed, meaning that the park will begin trading under a new name when the existing contract expires in January 2023. Legal action. In 2006, Tayto tried to compel Irish band Toasted Heretic to destroy all copies of their album "Now in  New Nostalgia Flavour", which featured an image based on the trademarked "Mr Tayto" icon, although the image had been used since 1988 on Toasted Heretic's cassette album "Songs for Swinging Celibates".