Marina Mayer, managing editor, looks on as a British chip producer breaks snack traditions by turning an all-American breakfast meal into a potato chip variety.

Breaking Food Traditions

It doesn’t matter if it’s McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin or Burger King’s Double Croissan’wich with Sausage. Both offer the fine delectable taste of scrambled eggs and steaming sausage with a slice of melted cheese sandwiched in between a toasted croissant or English muffin.

    Hungry yet?

    Now imagine tasting the Sausage McMuffin smeared with baked beans in the form of a crispy, crunchy potato chip. It’s like eating a piece of gum from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory that produces four courses right in your mouth.

    Here comes breakfast! (Enter scrunched facial expression here.)

    Classic movies aside, this unusual potato chip variety is now available in the United Kingdom courtesy of Walkers Snack Foods Ltd. The London-based potato chip producer created a contest where consumers can invent unique and quirky chip flavors while others vote for the next new product variety.

    The Builder’s Breakfast, one of six finalists in the Walkers Flavours contest, came from the imagination of a real potato chip lover who obviously loves her British-style breakfasts. According to the company, the Builder’s Breakfast is a blend of bacon, egg, sausage and baked beans that “as any man with a shovel would say… dig in.”

    The fun doesn’t just stop there. Five other contestants submitted unusual, if not exotic flavors, that are sure to make the tastebuds sing.

    According to the company’s Web site, www.walkers.co.uk, consumers can “spice up your life” with Onion Bhaji chips made with spicy onions and spices.

    The Fish & Chips variety is considered a staple of British and Irish lifestyles and is touted as “a match made in heaven.”

    Then there is the unconventional Cajun Squirrel flavor, which is made with Cajun and chili spices.     On Walker’s Web site, the promotional copy is quintessentially British: “We believe in the right for a man to bare nuts.”

    Another contestant is the Chili Chocolate variety, which provides a funky, sweet-and-savory blend of soft, rich chocolate and hot and spicy chili peppers.

    (What are the chances of ‘Ms. Won’t Try’ diving into this?)

    Lastly, the contest includes Crispy Duck & Hoisin, or a crispy fowl flavoring mixed with a Chinese dipping sauce.

    Consumers are encouraged to vote on the company’s interactive, fun-filled Web site, complete with dancing squirrels, singing fish and women tap dancing while wearing a rubber ducky on their heads. Voting also is available via text message, mobile site, email or Facebook.

    Get ready America. Change is definitely in the air, except this time it’s the British who are spinning a whole new meaning of a breakfast sandwich.

Marina Mayer, managing editor

mayerm@bnpmedia.com

Go to www.snackandbakery.com to read Marina’s online-only columns.