Keogh’s Crisps has commenced its largest ever overseas distribution deal with its artisan crisps now available at Publix’s 1,400 retail outlets in the south-eastern United States.
The north Dublin agri-firm’s products became available on the shelves of the US retailer last week and it comes only weeks after Keogh’s Crisps ULC lodged plans with Fingal Co Council for a new production facility as it plans to increase production by 50 per cent by 2028.
Managing Director of Keogh’s Crisps ULC, Tom Keogh said on Monday that Keogh’s is on course to have record revenues in 2026 surpassing the firm’s previous best year in 2021, which he said, was driven by people’s increased snacking during the Covid pandemic.
On the Publix deal, Keogh said that the company tendered for the supply “and we won a listing”.
He said that the contract involves Keogh’s supplying cheese and onion, lightly salted, salt and vinegar, truffle and Irish butter flavoured crisps to Publix.
Publix is the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the United States and has outlets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky.
Keogh’s Crisps CEO Tom Keogh: ‘I rented this room off my dad and I bought a little fryer’
Last year, Publix recorded revenues of $62.7 billion (€54 billion). Keogh would not be drawn on how much the Publix deal is worth to Keogh’s Crisps but stated that the United States is the firm’s largest export market now.
Keogh said that he has been in talks with Canadian distributors “but no deal is done as yet”.
He said that the main challenge facing the business was “the potato supply due to the dry summer”
The Publix deal follows Keogh’s Crisps lodging plans with Fingal County Council for a new production facility at Westpalstown, one kilometre north of Oldtown village.
The proposed development comprises a production, processing, packaging and storage facility with associated office accommodation on a 19.5 acre site.
The main facility will extend to approximately 9,829 sq m and a planning report by Hughes Planning Development Consultants (HPDC) with the application said that last year Keogh’s Crisps used around nine million potatoes and was set to surpass that this year.
The business accounts for 14 per cent of Irish crisp sales and exports account for 40 per cent of the company’s sales to 22 different countries.
The report said that there are currently 160 people employed by the company, but with plans to expand production by 50 per cent to meet the growing demand for their products a further 50 will be required by 2027.
A deal with Emirates Airlines was signed after a blind sampling of 15 different crisp brands and is expected to result in one million bags of crisps being served on board annually, the report noted.