SVWC09 To Hit The Headlines

For some unknown reason SVWC09 is about to be featured in the region’s biggest newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press.

OK, we know that our competition is the most important salt & vinegar flavour potato/maize/rice-based snack product tournament in the world, but will the good people of East Anglia be interested?

Top reporter Amy Gray certainly thinks so! Amy and a photographer will be visiting The Woolpack on Thursday to soak up the atmosphere and join in the next pair of Round One matches.

And she’s picked a premium quality day to come. The next two matches feature two potential champions, plus our second American raider - a “chip” (that’s what they call crisps in America donchaknow - weird) that is only available in the San Francisco area at the moment, but plans to rule the world sometime soon.

In a major clash we’ll find out who is victorious between Fairfields Farm Crisps Sea Salt & Aspall Cyder Vinegar and Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar. In 2007 Kettle Chips saw off a strong Discos entry before succumbing to eventual runner-up The Real McCoys in the semi-final. Fairfields are one of the new, independent contenders, and I’m rather looking forward to sampling their crisps myself. And an intriguing match pitches Popchips Sea Salt & Vinegar against Waitrose Salt & Vinegar. Fantastic confrontations and it’s still Round One!

Round One - Match Six - Morrisons Salt & Vinegar v Pringles Rice Infusions Salt & Vinegar

Tasters for this match: Wayne, Emma, Rotherham Toni

An incredibly close match! Morrisons own brand crisps made a great fight against the third Pringles entry of the SVWC09. Morrisons won on Crispness, Flavour and Size & Appearance, but lost out by a single point in the end. A brave effort. Pringles Rice Infusions join their stable-mate Pringles in the draw for Round Two, how cool would it be if they were drawn against each other.


Morrisons Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 9
Flavour 6
Size & Appearance 7
Aroma 3
More-ish-ness 6

Pringles Rice Infusions Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 5
Flavour 3
Size & Appearance 5
Aroma 10
More-ish-ness 9

Result

Morrisons Salt & Vinegar 31 : 32 Pringles Rice Infusions Salt & Vinegar


Fixtures

Round One

Pringles Select Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar 23 : 40 Walkers Baked Salt & Vinegar

Snack A Jacks Salt & Vinegar 26 : 47 Golden Sun Extra Thick Salt & Malt Vinegar Crinkle Cut

Pipers Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar 61 : 54 Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar

Eastman’s Salt & Vinegar 27 : 43 Pringles Salt & Vinegar

Herr’s Kettle Cooked Boardwalk Salt & Vinegar 50 : 32 Ryvita Minis Salt & Vinegar

Morrisons Salt & Vinegar 31 : 32 Pringles Rice Infusions Salt & Vinegar

Waitrose Hand Cooked Sea Salt, Malt Vinegar And A Twist Of Lemon v Gilroys Salt & Vinegar

Tesco Value Salt & Vinegar v Walkers Squares Salt & Vinegar

Fairfields Farm Crisps Sea Salt & Aspall Cyder Vinegar v Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar

Tayto Salt & Vinegar v Sainsbury’s Salt & Vinegar

Popchips Sea Salt & Vinegar v Waitrose Salt & Vinegar

Linessa Reduced Fat Crinkle Cut Salt & Vinegar v Walkers Salt & Vinegar

Knights Hand Cooked Sea Salt And Balsamic Vinegar v The Real McCoy’s Ridge Cut Salt & Malt Vinegar

Seabrook’s Sea Salt & Vinegar v KP Discos S&V



Byes: Co-op Salt & Vinegar, Tyrrells Cider Vinegar & Sea Salt

Round One - Match Five - Herr’s Kettle Cooked Boardwalk Salt & Vinegar v Ryvita Minis Salt & Vinegar

Tasters for this match (left to right): Wayne, Emma, Rotherham Toni

Sad to say, this was almost a walkover. The looks on the faces of the testers as they chomped down on Ryvitas S&V were priceless - I don’t think that they could have looked more disgusted if they were asked to eat dog chog. Herr's is a strong contender in its own right, and easily dispatched the Ryvitas. It’s the second Salt & Vinegar World Cup on the trot that Ryvitas have exited at the first stage….our first American raider rampages into Round Two. Bravo!


Herr's Kettle Cooked Boardwalk Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 15
Flavour 11
Size & Appearance 8
Aroma 10
More-ish-ness 6

Ryvita Minis Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 15
Flavour 4
Size & Appearance 7
Aroma 3
More-ish-ness 3

Result
Herr's Kettle Cooked Boardwalk Salt & Vinegar 50 : 32 Ryvita Minis Salt & Vinegar

Second American Raider Arrives

It's with great pleasure that we can announce the arrival (and therefore guaranteed participation) of our second international competitor for SVWC09 - Popchips!



All the way from San Francisco, and currently only available in limited areas of western United States, SVWC09 gives Popchips a great introduction to the European market, and the chance to take on some of Britain's finest - starting with a Round One match against the Waitrose supermarket own brand.

Erin Markey, our contact at Popchips, also sent a delightful note with their crisps, and a pair of unique Popchips baseball caps (anyone want one?). Thanks Erin.





Welcome Popchips, and Good Luck!


p.s. not 100% sure about this tribute video though: PopchipsVideo

Match Four - Eastman’s Salt & Vinegar v Pringles Salt & Vinegar

Tasters for this match: Rachel, Goldfinger Ron, Jemma

Above pic is the samples for Matches 3&4, clockwise from top left: Eastmans, Sainsburys Taste The Difference, Pipers, Pringles.



An easy victory for Pringles against Eastmans. Our tasters thought these were Pringles Light (if such a snack exists), not Regular, and they progress with little effort to Round Two.

Eastman’s Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 5
Flavour 6
Size & Appearance 4
Aroma 8
More-ish-ness 4

Pringles Salt & Vinegar
Crispness 10
Flavour 8
Size & Appearance 11
Aroma 7
More-ish-ness 7

Result

Eastman’s Salt & Vinegar 27 : 43 Pringles Salt & Vinegar


Fixtures

Round One

Pringles Select Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar 23 : 40 Walkers Baked Salt & Vinegar

Snack A Jacks Salt & Vinegar 26 : 47 Golden Sun Extra Thick Salt & Malt Vinegar Crinkle Cut

Pipers Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar 61 : 54 Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar

Eastman’s Salt & Vinegar 27 : 43 Pringles Salt & Vinegar

Waitrose Hand Cooked Sea Salt, Malt Vinegar And A Twist Of Lemon v Gilroys Salt & Vinegar

Tesco Value Salt & Vinegar v Walkers Squares Salt & Vinegar

Fairfields Farm Crisps Sea Salt & Aspall Cyder Vinegar v Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar

Tayto Salt & Vinegar v Sainsbury’s Salt & Vinegar

Popchips Sea Salt & Vinegar v Waitrose Salt & Vinegar

Linessa Reduced Fat Crinkle Cut Salt & Vinegar v Walkers Salt & Vinegar

Morrisons Salt & Vinegar v Pringles Rice Infusions Salt & Vinegar

Knights Hand Cooked Sea Salt And Balsamic Vinegar v The Real McCoy’s Ridge Cut Salt & Malt Vinegar

Seabrook’s Sea Salt & Vinegar v KP Discos S&V

Herr’s Kettle Cooked Boardwalk Salt & Vinegar v Ryvita Minis Salt & Vinegar

Byes: Co-op Salt & Vinegar, Tyrrells Cider Vinegar & Sea Salt

Match Three - Pipers Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar v Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar

Tasters for this match (left to right): Jemma, Goldfinger Ron, Rachel

This was an extremely high class, early round clash of two of the tournament favourites. The reaction of one of the tasters as she sampled the Pipers for the first time made me wonder if she'd set her mobile phone to vibrate, sat on it by accident, and was receiving a call....Very bad luck for Sainsburys Taste The Difference, with a score of 54 they would have won all the other matches so far! A very high scoring match that has left the Crisp Officionados at The Woolpack eagerly awaiting Monday's action!

Pipers Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar
Crispness 15
Flavour 12
Size & Appearance 13
Aroma 10
More-ish-ness 11

Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar
Crispness 15
Flavour 10
Size & Appearance 11
Aroma 8
More-ish-ness 10

Result

Pipers Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar 61 : 54 Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar

Matches 3 & 4 Highlight A Traditional Conundrum

Here are the competitor's for Matchday 2:



As you can see, two are in blue packaging, two in green. But which is THE traditional Salt & Vinegar livery?

There's a poll at the top right of the page, please leave your vote - don't worry, it's anonymous!