For a potato, there is no nobler fate than to end up in a packet of Tayto cheese-and-onion crisps. Taytos are the consummate crisps (potato chips to Americans).

In the 1950s Tayto, an Irish brand, produced cheese-and-onion crisps; in America Herr’s introduced barbecue seasoning. Today there are more than 1,000 crisp flavours worldwide, ranging from ...