Founded in Stockbridge in Edinburgh in 1947 by the Scottish bakery owner William Alexander, the company was named after the Golden Wonder potato. The company originally had five manufacturing sites. Four sites produced crisps, two in Scotland and two in England. The Welsh site at Crumlin produced the "Pot Noodle". The company was owned by various parent companies including Imperial Tobacco, Hanson plc, and was then acquired by United Kingdom based Dalgety plc in March 1987. Its notable brands have included: "Wotsits", "Ringos", "Jungle Fresh" peanuts and Pot Noodle, which ceased to carry Golden Wonder branding after the brand was sold to Unilever. In July 1995, Best Foods paid Dalgety plc about $280 million for its Golden Wonder Pot Noodle instant hot snacks manufacturing business. In January 2006, the company was bought by Tayto, a company based in Tandragee, County Armagh.
Products
Golden Wonder launched the cheese & onion crisp flavour in 1962. This was their first flavoured crisp, the concept having been devised by Tayto in Ireland in 1953. In the 1970s, Golden Wonder produced a line of shell-shaped crisps called Rock 'n' Roller Crisps, named after that decade's rock and roll revival. They were available in Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & Onion and Crispy Bacon flavours. During the 1980s, Golden Wonder ceased to make them. In the 1980s, Golden Wonder claimed on television and on their packets to be Britain's Noisiest Crisp. In the 1990s, a popular series of television adverts with adult actors indulging in childish antics carried another famous slogan: You'll never grow old in Golden Wonderland!. In 2009, the Golden Wonder brand started to be used by Symingtons Ltd, under licence, for the production of The Nation's Noodle and The Nation's Pasta. The new range of instant noodles is very similar to the Pot Noodle range, previously produced by Golden Wonder. Golden Wonder branding now features on snacks previously marketed by Red Mill, another snack manufacturer taken over by Tayto. Golden Wonder now produces a number of different flavours of potato crisp. It is also the current owner of the XL Crisp brand. Golden Wonder was the former owner of the Wotsits brand, but when the company changed hands in May 2002, it was sold off separately to their rival Walkers. Previous snacks Wheat Crunchies, Chips & Burgers and the corn based Nik Naks are now owned by KP.
Administration
Golden Wonder entered into administration on 9 January 2006, threatening about 800 jobs. On 13 January 2006, it was announced that the Corby, Northamptonshire site and the contract to Mini Pringles, as produced by Golden Wonder, would transfer to Northern Irish crisp manufacturer Tayto. The announcement brought the news that 195 of 350 jobs would be saved initially. On 20 January 2006, it was announced that Tayto was to buy all Golden Wonder's operations in the United Kingdom including the Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire site, although it would sell the Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks brands to United Biscuits.
