Irish Snack manufacturer Tayto gets a taste of Chinese market

Chinese consumers will soon be enjoying the taste of Tayto crisps.

The Irish snack has undergone a major makeover for its Asian adventure.

Businessman Wei Quoinhas has struck an agreement to deliver the iconic Irish crisp to 1,200 outlets in Shanghai, which has a population of more than 20 million.

However, the cheese-and-onion flavour popular among Irish crisp connoisseurs have been cast aside in favour of salted and Thai sweet chilli deemed more likely to tickle the Chinese palate.

Snack-lovers may also look on enviously as the bulging yellow packets weigh-in a tad heavier than their Irish counterparts at a hefty 50g -- which is the average packet size in China.

Raymond Coyle, founder of Largo Foods which produces the crisps, touted the six-month Shanghai trial with the Irish-based businessman Mr Quoinhas. The launch in the Asian country comes after six months of intensive discussions with the Chinese food and regulatory authorities.

Mr Coyle revealed that if the initial foray proves successful it planned to expand distribution to other areas of China and introduce other flavours.