# Tayto: Where did it all go wrong? Discuss.



## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

Am I entirely alone in mourning the loss of the traditional flavour of Tayto crisps since they were taken over whenever it was?

Never mind the economy, the health service or property prices, this is _*the*_ issue of our time and if any party can promise me they will restore Tayto to their position at the top of the list of the tastiest things on earth I will not only vote for them, I'll vote for them twice.

Phase One after they were bought out was bordering on the tragic: they tasted foul.

Phase Two: they improved a bit, but not much.

I thought maybe it was just me until I spoke to someone who worked in Superquinn and they said sales of Tayto had dropped big time, hence the mountains of special offers on them. Can anyone confirm this?

I know, I know, I need to get a life, but Tayto _*is*_ life.  

Discuss.


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## Guest124 (23 Jan 2007)

They are having packaging problems also. Sometimes on opening the six pack's you accidentally actually open a packet of Crisps as one pack is stuck to the top of the main packaging. Settings on machine or something when slicing. are not set correctly.


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## finbar (23 Jan 2007)

All Tayto crisps and snacks are now made by Largo foods the producers
of Hunky Dory , Perri , Sam spuds etc
which would explain the differnece in taste and packaging


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

finbar said:


> All Tayto crisps and snacks are now made by Largo foods the producers of Hunky Dory , Perri , Sam spuds etc which would explain the differnece in taste and packaging


 
Can't understand why they would change the recipe of such a successful product (well, I'm assuming Tayto were hugely successful, based on sales to me alone ). They were actually vile for a while, tasted of cheap oil and sickly artificial cheese, have improved a bit but nowhere near what they used to be. Any other fellow Tayto devotees find the same?


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## gramlab (23 Jan 2007)

Every second pack seems to taste different. Got a six pack before xmas and they were just like they should be, covered in flavouring, golden in colour, and just ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...........................

Sorry, have to go and get a cloth. Just drooled all over the keyboard


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## Cahir (23 Jan 2007)

Tayto cheese and onion were always awful but all the other flavours are still ok.  Nothing beats the flavour of King - yum!


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## Newby (23 Jan 2007)

They used to be great... I remember when you could get no other snack but Tayto in the pubs. They were great with your 7-up (when you were a kid) and a pint of cider when you were slightly older.

Sadly those days ar gone  

Hunky Dorey's are the new Tayto to me - Buffalo mmmmmm.


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## rmelly (23 Jan 2007)

Cahir said:


> Tayto cheese and onion were always awful but all the other flavours are still ok. Nothing beats the flavour of King - yum!


 
there's always one


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## r2d2 (23 Jan 2007)

I am with you all (well, almost all of you) in my mourning........Agree totally with the Phase 1/2 theory and the bag issue......As a very small kid, my party piece was to recite all the writing on the pack....."Tayto, the ideal TV snack" and all that.....I had such an affinity that Largo have now just laughed at !


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## Bamhan (23 Jan 2007)

God I did not realise Taytos had changed.
It has been a while since I had a pack.......that is just appaling and I will have to do a taste test at lunchtime now to see where I stand in this whole debate.

AS to King crisps, they are the poor man's tayto.


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## elefantfresh (23 Jan 2007)

i used to be able to recite the back of the salt container "Saxa table salt, fine flowing table salt....." hours and hours trying to get green veg down my 6 year old throat lead to an interesting read.....
nightmare about Taytos though - i've been on the cheese and onion hunky dorys for the last year or so - really oniony and delicious. and don't forget the cheesy wotsits. oh yes.


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## The_Banker (23 Jan 2007)

The original Taytos were set up by the Murphy family back in the late 40's early 50's and the family patriarch (Spud Murphy) died about 2 years ago. There was a tribute to him on the Joe Duffy liveline show about 6 months ago.
However, Tayto itself was bought by Maurice Pratts C&C in the early 90's and C&C have sold it to Largo foods in the last 18 months. Hence the changing taste of the original Cheese and Onion flavor crisps as different companies might try and produce the product cheaper. (In fact Spud Murphy or his estate still own the rights to Cheese and Onion and sell it under license to other brands)
The reason Tayto has fallen behind in the crisp market is because in the last 10 years Ireland has been flooded with new brands, especially Walkers. Tayto once had 100% of the Irish crisp market but it now only has 25% and this is slowly falling with Walkers expected to become the market leader if present trends continue.


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## Bamhan (23 Jan 2007)

i hate Walkers crisps with a passion.


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## tallpaul (23 Jan 2007)

Bamhan said:


> i hate Walkers crisps with a passion.


 
Agreed!!! Awful things...


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## Cahir (23 Jan 2007)

Walkers Barbecue aren't too bad but the rest are horrible.


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## elefantfresh (23 Jan 2007)

if walkers are so horrible why are they "expected" to become the market leaders? someone must be eating them?


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## Purple (23 Jan 2007)

I like their ready salted crisps


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## ragazza (23 Jan 2007)

I am a crispoholic, but dont like Tayto - to me they taste greasy and oily like they were cooked in old chip fat!
I love Walkers Cheese and Onion - they taste fresher, less oily, crunchier, lighter...yum!

I never got into King (tasteless), Hunky Dory (hit and miss - some bags tasteless, others lovely). Used to love Sam Spudz Salt and Vinegar as a kid.


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

Quote:
Originally Posted by *Cahir* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=352235#post352235 
_Tayto cheese and onion were always awful but all the other flavours are still ok. Nothing beats the flavour of King - yum!_



rmelly said:


> there's always one


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

r2d2 said:


> I am with you all (well, almost all of you) in my mourning........Agree totally with the Phase 1/2 theory and the bag issue......


 
So relieved, I was beginning to wonder was it just me!



r2d2 said:


> as a very small kid, my party piece was to recite all the writing on the pack....."Tayto, the ideal TV snack" and all that.....


 
  Crackin' up! My 'party' piece was to hold a Tayto bag over the fire and shrink it in to a mini Tayto packet with the heat


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

elefantfresh said:


> i used to be able to recite the back of the salt container "Saxa table salt, fine flowing table salt....."


 
  Truly, there are some _very_ strange ladies and gentlemen inhabiting these boards.


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## Bamhan (23 Jan 2007)

Can it be that life was oh so simple then..................memories like the corner of my mind, misty golden coloured memories of the way we were...


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

The_Banker said:


> The reason Tayto has fallen behind in the crisp market is because in the last 10 years Ireland has been flooded with new brands, especially Walkers.


 
There's no doubt, Walkers' advertising campaigns have been excellent (Lineker, Gazza, Keane, etc) and inevitably have paid off, especially with the younger market. I still think, though, that there was such an affinity for Tayto in Ireland that older customers would have stayed loyal if they had retained the flavour that made us love them in the first place - and older customers are the Mammies and Daddies who do the shopping! We had a 12 pack (or 16??) of Tayto a couple of months ago and we threw most of them out, they were dire. Maybe 'tragedy' is a little strong, but it's a tragedy!!


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## The_Banker (23 Jan 2007)

I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
Happy Days


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## Cahir (23 Jan 2007)

I was almost tempted to buy a packet of cheese and onion tayto at lunchtime but instead opted for sour cream & onion hunky dorys - so much nicer!


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## Cahir (23 Jan 2007)

The_Banker said:


> I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
> Happy Days



I think that's a country thing.  I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15!  I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!


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## The_Banker (23 Jan 2007)

Cahir said:


> I think that's a country thing. I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15! I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!


 
I am in Cork City and we always asked for "a bag of taytos" as kids and we meant crisps. I remember getting a different brand once and thinking the tayto had change their packet!!!
The tayto Advertisment with Murachu McTayto sticks in my mind. As does the Pete Peanut Ad where the Peanut is a walking, talking cowboy or Sheriff and he finishes the Ad with the following words in a cowboy drawl "Don't never go nowhere without your Petes Peanuts"

Pete Peanut and Steve Silvermint were my hero's before I discovered girls!!!


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## r2d2 (23 Jan 2007)

Bushfire said:


> Crackin' up! My 'party' piece was to hold a Tayto bag over the fire and shrink it in to a mini Tayto packet with the heat


 
Yeah, did that too...It was mad the way the little Tayto fella would stay perfectly intact but just shrink smaller and smaller until the thing took to flames.....Anyway, if that was your party piece it's no wonder you're now called Bushfire


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## gianni (23 Jan 2007)

Cahir said:


> I think that's a country thing. I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15! I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!


 

I think it's more of an "outside Dublin" thing, rather than a country thing.
We (Dubliners) never called crisps Taytos, unless they were Taytos that is !


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## Guest127 (23 Jan 2007)

are tayto northern ireland not seperate? dont think they were part of the largo foods deal. will check it out when I am down in newry someday soon.


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

r2d2 said:


> Yeah, did that too...It was mad the way the little Tayto fella would stay perfectly intact but just shrink smaller and smaller until the thing took to flames.....


 
Exactly!!!!   And if a corner of his head was a little too big you just held him over the fire for a split second and - voila! The Big challenge was to get the bag as tiny as possible, and if you mucked up you just had to eat another bag so you'd have another chance. No wonder I was a chubby child


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## blueshoes (23 Jan 2007)

mmmm...tayto yum yum.

Have to say i havent really noticed a difference only with the packaging.

Somwtimes you get real flavoured, fresh crisps that are lovely but other times ive gotton rotton aul hard yokes.

I dont like walkers not enough flavour on them.  King is ok but allways buy TAYTO.


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## daithi (23 Jan 2007)

I had a pack today and they tasted just fine to me..

d


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## Z100 (23 Jan 2007)

daithi said:


> I had a pack today and they tasted just fine to me..


 
Will give them another go, haven't bought any for a few weeks, no wonder their share of the market is dropping, I used to buy a near endless supply of them. Not hopeful though.


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## Sue Ellen (23 Jan 2007)

Fond memories of goin' to beach as a kid and no better taste than a pack of Tayto made from new potatoes. The sand and the fact that running around most of the day probably added to the flavour.


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## PM1234 (23 Jan 2007)

Perri's crisps get my vote!


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## liteweight (24 Jan 2007)

I never buy Walkers or Pringles as they contain MSG, a flavour enhancer which is banned in numerous countries. It causes me to have an asthma attack and sometimes an itchy rash. Love the taste of Pringles though.


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## jasconius (24 Jan 2007)

Crisps must be about the most unhealthy snack food you can eat.
No doubt advertising pressure will increase to ban such foods.
I read recently that Gary Lineker donates his fees back to charity.

Talking about heroes, where is Jim Figgerty?


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## MandaC (24 Jan 2007)

I am a Dub born and bred and my Dad always referred to all crisps as "Taytos". We used to love Farmer Browns crisps and when he went to the shop, my dad always came back with Tayto. But da, we asked you to get Farmer Browns. Well, thats what I asked for, two packets of Farmer Browns Tayto.

Some of the other neighbours called them packets of crips.


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## ajapale (24 Jan 2007)

When I was growing up crisps were rated:

No1 Tayto
No2 Smiths
No3 Peri (often these were green and pretty horrible looking)


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## Purple (24 Jan 2007)

liteweight said:


> I never buy Walkers or Pringles as they contain MSG, a flavour enhancer which is banned in numerous countries.


So do many of in the new Tayto range.


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## fobs (24 Jan 2007)

> Originally Posted by *The_Banker* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=352501#post352501
> _I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
> Happy Days_


 
Had a friend of mine who did this in Turkey so can you imagine how confused they were?!


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## r2d2 (24 Jan 2007)

Bushfire said:


> Exactly!!!!  And if a corner of his head was a little too big you just held him over the fire for a split second and - voila! The Big challenge was to get the bag as tiny as possible, and if you mucked up you just had to eat another bag so you'd have another chance. No wonder I was a chubby child


 
Mrs d2 told me last night that one of the things she found so romantic about me when we met in our late teens was that I used to give her any Tayto crisp that were curled up around themselves, or the ones that had big air bubbles in them.....They were my favourites so I'm glad she remembered the sacrifices I made for her


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## jasconius (24 Jan 2007)

I remember in England that you could buy Smith's crisps and they had a little twist of blue waxed paper inside the bag containing the salt for you to sprinkle. Maybe they still have them.

Happy Days


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## micamaca (24 Jan 2007)

Damn you all and your discussion about Tayto. Felt mysteriously compelled to go out and buy a pack...
 
I noticed a change in flavour of Tayto years ago, must have been when they were sold the first time...

Noticed the same about Kellogs Corn Flakes...they have no flavour these days. Bought Natural Company Corn Flakes and budda bing! they tast like Kellogs Corn Flakes used to taste in the 80's.

now for my crips...


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## Purple (24 Jan 2007)

micamaca said:


> budda bing!


 It's "badda Bing", not "buddu Bing"


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## micamaca (24 Jan 2007)

Purple said:


> It's "badda Bing", not "buddu Bing"


 

Darn it! I was so close! Next time! 
 
btw Crips weren't half bad but probably won't eat them again for another few months, I prefer the crinkly variety myself...crips that is.


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## RainyDay (24 Jan 2007)

The_Banker said:


> I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
> Happy Days



Did you every try asking for a 'Vodka & Red' (meaning Red Lemonade, long before Red Bull came on the scene) in a busy English pub?


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## Purple (25 Jan 2007)

RainyDay said:


> Did you every try asking for a 'Vodka & Red' (meaning Red Lemonade, long before Red Bull came on the scene) in a busy English pub?


Well I hope you didn't either, not on a school trip anyway


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## Newby (25 Jan 2007)

Or fizzy orange. Went to Somerset on holiday one year and asked for a fizzy orange. The staff behind the bar nearly wet themselves.


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## Z100 (25 Jan 2007)

r2d2 said:


> Mrs d2 told me last night that one of the things she found so romantic about me when we met in our late teens was that I used to give her any Tayto crisp that were curled up around themselves, or the ones that had big air bubbles in them.....They were my favourites so I'm glad she remembered the sacrifices I made for her


 
Hilarious!   I tell you something, I wouldn't have given one of my air bubble Tayto to anyone on earth, that was like finding gold. No wonder you won her heart, you romantic fool you  

*Newsflash*: Gave Tayto another try yesterday and they were even worse than I remember.......ugggghhhhh. Revolting sickly nasty oily taste again, gutted!!


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## Vanilla (25 Jan 2007)

Newby said:


> Or fizzy orange. Went to Somerset on holiday one year and asked for a fizzy orange. The staff behind the bar nearly wet themselves.


 
LOL. Or asking for a mineral. Is that town and country Irish or just country Irish?


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## MandaC (25 Jan 2007)

The good old days.

A packet of crips and a tin of minerals.


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## Z100 (25 Jan 2007)

I'm still inclined to ask for a 'glass' of beer in English pubs, rather than a 'half'. "Excuse me," they say, while my face turns


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## elefantfresh (25 Jan 2007)

lager tops mate


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## Newby (25 Jan 2007)

MandaC said:


> The good old days.
> 
> A packet of crips and a tin of minerals.


 
I think we used to have packet of crisps and a can of Co-Ack (phonetic bogger pronunciation left in intentionally)  



Vanilla said:


> LOL. Or asking for a mineral. Is that town and country Irish or just country Irish?


 
Certainly country irish and it would depend on the town size. I've heard it (a while ago) in town in Offaly!


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## Vanilla (25 Jan 2007)

I still say 'mineral' and 'taytos'. Mr.V ( not Irish) is perplexed.


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## Newby (25 Jan 2007)

Well if you said mineral and tayto down my local you'll get what you are looking for! 

Now if you said Redbull or Low-Fat Pringles you might get a funny look.


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## nicelives (25 Jan 2007)

cuchulainn said:


> are tayto northern ireland not seperate? dont think they were part of the largo foods deal. will check it out when I am down in newry someday soon.


In the early days of Tayto, Spud sold his secret cheese and onion recipe to the guys in Norn'Ireland and gave them the rights to make and sell "Tayto" in the 6 counties. Think he asked for less than a hundred quid or some such figure.
Tayto in Northern Ireland might be more of the real deal as they manufacture their own crisps unlike C&C closing their factories and paying Largo to make'em under licence. There's even a Tayto World across the border and you can meet the crisp himself. www.tayto.com as opposed to malfunctioning www.tayto.ie :-(


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## ragazza (26 Jan 2007)

Newby said:


> Certainly country irish and it would depend on the town size. I've heard it (a while ago) in town in Offaly!


 
Im from Dublin, and in my house fizzy drinks were always referred to as 'minerals', and still are! Maybe that because my parents are from the country.


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## ajapale (26 Jan 2007)

www.tayto.ie



> * The site you are looking for has moved and your DNS is out of date. You  should clear any DNS cache you have or contact your ISP.*



I think this works http://www.taytocrisps.ie/


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## Newby (26 Jan 2007)

ragazza said:


> Im from Dublin, and in my house fizzy drinks were always referred to as 'minerals', and still are! Maybe that because my parents are from the country.


 
You can take the man from the country but you can't take the country from the man. I love it.

Did anyone used to have Soda Stream? My mother used to call those minerals too!


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## elefantfresh (26 Jan 2007)

soda stream, jeez what a con that was!


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## Newby (26 Jan 2007)

elefantfresh said:


> soda stream, jeez what a con that was!


 
Oh i don't know.... you get to choose how much syrup you could put into it!!!


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## Cahir (26 Jan 2007)

I loved my soda stream!!  We had the really old white and yellow one that made a fart noise when it was ready!


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## elefantfresh (26 Jan 2007)

are you sure that was the machine!!


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## Newby (26 Jan 2007)

And it sounded like Robocop when you released the lever. Savage.


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## Purple (26 Jan 2007)

elefantfresh said:


> soda stream, jeez what a con that was!



Yea, not like now when we pay a fortune for carbonated water by the bottle.


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## kildarebuild (26 Jan 2007)

elefantfresh said:


> if walkers are so horrible why are they "expected" to become the market leaders? someone must be eating them?



Simple as an advertising designer - Tayto ads have gone tacky. The one on the football pitch all eating crisps. Sad.

Whereas with Walkers good advertising campaign, funny angle etc.

So walkers are expected to becomes market leaders?


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## dontaskme (26 Jan 2007)

Alien Spacers - now, that was a crisp!

Or rather, that was a corn and starch based snack with artificial flavouring.  

They even had a cartoon series on the packaging.


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## Vanilla (26 Jan 2007)

Or meanies...mmmm


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## Cahir (26 Jan 2007)

Or anything cheese flavoured.....


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## Purple (26 Jan 2007)

Vanilla said:


> Or meanies...mmmm



Tasted OK but too much effort to pick them out of your teeth


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## fobs (26 Jan 2007)

Or monster munch?! - these don't taste the same either!


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## Vanilla (26 Jan 2007)

> Tasted OK but too much effort to pick them out of your teeth


 
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that. Have graduated to real pickles now.


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## Newby (26 Jan 2007)

Cahir said:


> Or anything cheese flavoured.....


 
Or anything that tasted like Rancheros or Burger Bites!!


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## Cahir (26 Jan 2007)

fobs said:


> Or monster munch?! - these don't taste the same either!



Mighty munch are the old monster munch and are still nice.  The new monster munch are made by walkers and aren't as tasty.


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## Gordanus (26 Jan 2007)

RainyDay said:


> Did you every try asking for a 'Vodka & Red' (meaning Red Lemonade, long before Red Bull came on the scene) in a busy English pub?



or a hot whiskey? ...........an odd look from the barman, and a steaming measure of whiskey from the microwave - an even odder look on me!   

English friends used to ask us to bring extra supplies of Tayto to England whenever we came home on visits .........


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