We’re already struggling to deal with a shortage of fizzy drinks, beer, and crumpets.

Please, please don’t let our remaining joy, the humble crisp, be snatched from our grasp.

The head of independent crisp makers Pipers has told the Sunday Times ‘there is a danger we will have a crisp crisis’.

This is thanks to some issues with the UK’s potato crops, which were wrecked by the Beast of the East chill, and are now struggling with the current heatwave, as potatoes can stop growing when the temperature rises about 25 degrees celsius (today’s high in the UK is 29 degrees. Oh dear).




This could cause a UK-based potato shortage, which would in turn affect our crisp supplies.

Potato farmer Andrew Francis has added that crops this year have struggled, and that if the heat continues there may be shortages in certain vegetables, ‘including potatoes’.

But before you start panic buying packs of salt and vinegar, an important thing to note: Pipers, the crisp brand alerting us to this horror, only use potatoes from the UK. They’re a smaller, independent brand, so if a potato shortage comes, they’ll be heavily affected.

Larger crisps brands are unlikely to feel the same pinch. Walkers, for example, sources potatoes from 88 different British farms, and hasn’t expressed any reticence to look abroad in times of crisis.

It’s possible that while potato crops may be damaged in the UK, many crisps manufacturers will simply look elsewhere to continue manufacturing their snacks.

We’ve reached out to Walkers, Tyrrells, Kettle Chips, and KP snacks to see if they’re expecting troubles ahead, and will update this article if we hear back.

In the meantime, you could always go for tortilla chips if you need a crispy fix.

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