The death of the potato crisp? Shoppers switch to 'healthier' nachos and biscuits

Sales of alternative savoury foods have overtaken the humble potato crisp, according to industry survey

For decades, prawn cocktail, salt and vinegar and cheese and onion were staple flavours of the British lunchbox.

But it appears that the potato crisp is in decline.

A snack industry survey shows that alternative, non-fried savoury snacks including tortilla chips, and biscuits such as Mini Cheddars, are now selling outselling crisps in Britain.

The UK crisp market is worth £923.2 million, down 2 per cent in the past year, according to the Grocer magazine.

The volume of crisps sold dropped 0.4pc to 132,000 tons.

Sales of biscuits and tortillas, meanwhile, rose to £947.9 million, up 4.1pc.

The crisp trade has been hit by discount retailers Aldi and Lidl marketing snacks other than crisp, deflation and a bumper potato harvest, the report says.