Frequently asked

We’re the British Crisp Co. – a small British snack brand built around British growers, a renewable-energy fryer and one carefully engineered paper-recyclable packet. We started life as The London Crisp Co.; in 2021 we moved production to British farmland and renamed. There are two ranges in the catalogue: the Paper Range (the world’s first home-recyclable crisp packet) and the Classic Range (our original Vegan Society-certified line in foil). We’re sold only at independent pubs, cafés, hotels and members’ clubs – never the supermarkets.

Two genuinely different recipes in two different packets.

The Paper Range is our March 2024 launch – the world’s first home-recyclable crisp packet, reformulated with bigger flavours that survive paper-stable shelf life: real mature cheddar in Cheese & Onion, real malt vinegar in Salt & Vinegar, real buttermilk in Sweet Chilli. Most of the Paper Range isn’t vegan or allergen-free as a result. Sea Salt is the exception.

The Classic Range is our original line: Vegan Society certified across all four flavours and the Mixed Case, free from all fourteen major declarable allergens. Plant-based cheese powder, yeast-and-spice seasonings, rice-flour vinegar – but still in foil packaging until we can engineer a paper-stable vegan version.

Same single UK farm, same renewable-powered fryer, two ranges.

Because we wouldn’t compromise on either.

When we engineered the paper packet in 2024, we found that some of the Classic Range ingredients (plant-based cheese powder, rice-flour vinegar) need foil-laminate barrier protection to keep – they don’t stay fresh in paper for long enough. So for the Paper Range, we reformulated with shelf-stable real ingredients: real cheddar, real malt vinegar, real buttermilk. Bigger flavours, but not vegan or 14-allergen-free.

Rather than retire the original vegan recipes (and let down the customers who buy them for dietary reasons), we kept the Classic Range whole – in foil – until we can engineer a paper-stable vegan version. That’s the next project.

Because we’d rather be in your local. We don’t sell into Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons or the like – never have, never will. Both ranges go directly to independent pubs, cafés, sandwich shops, boutique hotels and private members’ clubs. Proper British crisps belong at the bar of a good pub, not on a shelf next to the same six labels everyone else uses.

Every potato is British, grown on UK farmland and hand-cooked here. Our fryer runs entirely on renewable energy, generated on site from organic waste. The bag is printed and filled on the same site. British grown, British made – both ranges.

It depends on the range.

Classic Range – all four flavours and the Mixed Case are Vegan Society certified.

Paper Range – only Sea Salt is vegan. Cheese & Onion uses real cheddar; Sweet Chilli contains buttermilk and lactose; Salt & Vinegar is vegan but contains gluten (the malt vinegar uses barley).

Always check the ingredients panel on the actual pack.

The Classic Range is formulated to be free from all fourteen major declarable food allergens across every flavour – gluten, milk, nuts, soy, sesame, the lot. It also carries Vegan Society certification.

The Paper Range is more variable:
• Sea Salt is fully allergen-clean
• Salt & Vinegar contains gluten (the malt vinegar uses barley)
• Cheese & Onion contains milk (real cheddar)
• Sweet Chilli contains milk (buttermilk and lactose)

Check each pack’s ingredients panel before serving.

Yes. Launched in March 2024 after years of development and certified by OPRL – the UK’s on-pack recycling labelling authority – to be recycled in the standard paper waste stream, like a cereal box.

UK households throw away around eight billion crisp packets a year, almost all of them landfilled or incinerated because traditional plastic-aluminium film can’t be cleanly separated for recycling. Ours uses paper on the outside, a biodegradable polymer film called Hydropol in the middle, and a microscopic aluminium layer just 30 nanometres thick on the inside. The paper recycles via your household recycling bin; if it ends up littered, the whole construction biodegrades naturally in a matter of weeks.

The Paper Range packet won the Gama Innovation Award for Packaging in 2024.

Empty the pack, pop it in your usual paper recycling bin. No return-to-store schemes, no special collection – just standard household recycling paper recycling, alongside newspapers and cardboard.

Classic Range packets are still in foil and currently go in your general waste. We’re working on bringing them into the same recycling stream.

Yes. The Paper Range packet is paper on the outside, a thin biodegradable polymer film (Hydropol) in the middle, and a vacuum-deposited aluminium layer just 30 nanometres thick on the inside. The aluminium is what keeps the crisps fresh; the paper and Hydropol together let it recycle.

We reformulated the flavours specifically for paper-stable shelf life, so what you taste was developed for this packet – not transplanted from a different package.

That’s the goal. Some of the ingredients in our original Vegan Society recipes – plant-based cheese powder, rice-flour vinegar seasoning – don’t currently keep in paper for long enough; they need foil-laminate barrier protection. We’re working on engineering paper-stable versions of every Classic recipe. Until then, the Classic Range stays in foil so the vegan and allergen-free customers we built the brand for aren’t left without an option.

Free DPD delivery to all UK mainland addresses, every order, no minimum spend. We don’t currently ship to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands or international destinations.

Order before noon (UK time) Monday to Friday and your pack ships the same working day; you’ll usually have it the next working day. Order after noon or at the weekend and we dispatch on the next working day.

Yes – we’d love that. Trade orders for British Crisp Co., plus our sister brands Awfully Posh and British Popcorn Co., all go through Nibblers, our family wholesale arm. Next-working-day delivery, no minimum order, account terms available for established venues. Head to our Trade page for the full picture, or talk to a person via our contact form.