A 54 year old Northern Irish crisp maker has gone under. Glens of Antrim Potatoes Ltd, the Cushendall and Ballymena firm behind Glens of Antrim Crisps and the Shindigs snack range, called in administrators on 21 September 2026 and has already stopped trading, with 95 staff made redundant almost overnight. The crisps were sold in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Dunnes Stores, and some listings are already showing as out of stock. There is currently no confirmed Amazon UK listing for the brand and, given the company has ceased trading, there may never be one, so we have used general search links below and pointed you towards the closest alternatives still on shelves.
What Happened to Glens of Antrim Crisps
Glens of Antrim Potatoes Ltd put itself into administration on 21 September 2026. Stuart Irwin, Ian Leonard and Robin Coughlin of Interpath Advisory were appointed as joint administrators, and the company has ceased trading with immediate effect.
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The headline numbers are stark:
- The business employed 95 people across its two sites in Cushendall and Ballymena, County Antrim.
- Almost all 95 jobs have been lost, with only a small skeleton staff kept on to help the administrators wind things down.
- The company had been trading for 54 years, having started out in 1972.
- Directors looked at refinancing and new investment before calling in administrators, but nothing solvent could be found in time.
Interpath described the collapse as a “tremendously sad outcome” for the business, its staff and the wider Northern Ireland agri-food sector. The administrators are now seeking interest in the business and its assets, with enquiries directed to Interpath rather than the company itself.
Who Were Glens of Antrim
Before this, Glens of Antrim was one of the better known independent names in Irish crisps, not owned by any of the big multinational snack groups. The firm started life growing and packing potatoes for supermarkets and grocery chains across Ireland, and built a crisps business on top of that, using its own potatoes to make hand cooked crisps under the Glens of Antrim Crisps name.
A few things are worth knowing about the company:
- It was based in Cushendall, County Antrim, with a second site in nearby Ballymena.
- As well as the main Glens of Antrim Crisps range, the company also made a separate hand cooked line called Shindigs.
- It supplied major retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury’s in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Dunnes Stores in the Republic of Ireland.
- The crisps leaned heavily into Irish provenance as a selling point, right down to flavour names referencing Irish sea salt and whiskey.
The Flavours Glens of Antrim Made
The range was built around thick cut, hand cooked crisps rather than the thinner, more processed style you get from the biggest national brands. Flavours confirmed from retailer listings and the brand’s own site include:
- Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar, sold in 100g bags through Tesco at £1.80.
- Roast Beef & Mustard, a bolder, meatier flavour from the core range.
- A Thick Cut Jacket Potato Crisps range, described by the brand as having bold, punchy flavours.
- A Roast Turkey and Stuffing flavour brought in for the festive season.
- Under the Shindigs sub-brand, a Whiskey Smoked Bacon flavour on ridge cut potato chips.
Worth flagging for allergy and dietary reasons: the Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar bag listed milk (as lactose) as its only allergen, and was marked suitable for vegetarians but not vegan. We have not seen a full ingredients and allergen breakdown for every flavour in the range, so if you do spot any remaining stock on a shelf, check the pack rather than assuming it matches.
Why Did Glens of Antrim Collapse
The administrators and the company’s own update point to one main cause: rising input costs across the agri-food sector put serious pressure on cashflow. Growing and packing potatoes, then cooking and packing crisps on top of that, means exposure to energy costs, ingredient costs and raw potato prices all at once, and all of those have been climbing.
The directors reportedly explored both refinancing the business and bringing in new investment before taking the decision to call in administrators, but neither route produced a viable, solvent way forward in time. That is a familiar story across UK and Irish food manufacturing at the moment, where thin margins on everyday products leave very little room to absorb cost shocks.
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Where Can You Still Buy Glens of Antrim Crisps
In the short term, you may still find bags on shelves while existing stock clears, but do not expect this to last. The Tesco listing for the Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar 100g bag is already showing as out of stock at the time of writing, which suggests the supply chain is drying up fast now that the company has stopped trading.
There is no confirmed Amazon UK listing for Glens of Antrim Crisps or the Shindigs range. Given the business has ceased trading rather than simply paused production, it is entirely possible one never appears. If the brand or its recipes are bought out of administration by another manufacturer, that could change, but nothing has been confirmed either way, so we are not going to guess.
What Happens Next
The honest answer is that nobody knows yet. Interpath, as administrators, are now responsible for finding a buyer for the business and its assets, which could mean:
- A sale of the Glens of Antrim and Shindigs brands, recipes and equipment to another snack manufacturer, who could in theory bring some flavours back under new ownership.
- A piecemeal sale of the Cushendall and Ballymena sites and equipment, with the brands themselves retired for good.
- No buyer at all, in which case the brands disappear along with the company.
We will update this post if a buyer is confirmed or if either site reopens under new ownership, but for now this is a straightforward closure, not a pause.
Best Alternatives If You Loved Glens of Antrim Crisps
If you are a fan of thick cut, hand cooked crisps with a strong Irish or regional identity, a few directions are worth trying while this plays out:
- For something close in style to the Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar flavour, look at other hand cooked crisps, which tend to use the same thicker cut and rougher texture Glens of Antrim was known for.
- If it is specifically the Irish angle you will miss, Tayto crisps remain the best known Irish crisp brand still trading on both sides of the border, and are worth a look if you have not tried the Republic of Ireland range alongside the Northern Ireland one.
- Fans of the Roast Beef & Mustard flavour have plenty to explore in the wider roast beef flavour crisps category, where several independent and supermarket own brand ranges cover similar ground.
- For the Whiskey Smoked Bacon fans among you, smoked bacon flavour crisps are a reasonable like for like swap, though you will not get the whiskey note anywhere else right now.
- If you just want to stock up on a reliable thick cut salt and vinegar crisps multipack while you wait and see what happens with the brand, that is a sensible, low risk option.
- More generally, browsing Irish crisps as a category will surface other small producers who might appreciate the extra custom now that one of the bigger independent names has gone.
We have used general search links throughout rather than linking to a specific Glens of Antrim listing, because no such listing exists on Amazon UK and, for the reasons above, one may never appear.
The Bigger Picture
Glens of Antrim is not the first independent crisp maker to go under in the last couple of years, and it will not be the last while input costs stay high across UK and Irish food manufacturing. It follows a pattern we have covered before on this site with brands like Brannigans, where a well loved independent name has not survived rising costs intact. If you want to see how that played out, our piece on what happened to Brannigans crisps covers a very similar story.
For now, 95 people in County Antrim have lost their jobs, a 54 year old business has stopped trading, and shoppers in Tesco and Sainsbury’s are going to start noticing gaps on the shelf where Glens of Antrim Crisps and Shindigs used to sit. We will keep an eye on what the administrators report back and update this post if a buyer steps in.
If you want to browse more of the UK and Irish crisp market while this settles, our crisps category page is a good place to start.
What happened to Glens of Antrim Crisps?
Glens of Antrim Potatoes Ltd, the Northern Ireland company behind Glens of Antrim Crisps and the Shindigs range, went into administration on 21 September 2026 and has ceased trading. Almost all of its 95 staff have been made redundant.
Why did Glens of Antrim Potatoes collapse?
The administrators point to rising input costs across the agri-food sector putting heavy pressure on cashflow. The directors looked at refinancing and new investment first, but no solvent option was found in time.
Can you still buy Glens of Antrim Crisps?
Existing stock may still be on some shelves at Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Dunnes Stores, but it is running out fast. The Tesco listing for the Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar 100g bag is already showing as out of stock. There is no Amazon UK listing for the brand.
Is the Glens of Antrim brand gone for good?
Nobody has confirmed either way yet. Administrators are seeking a buyer for the business and its assets, which could include the Glens of Antrim and Shindigs brands. Until a sale is confirmed, we cannot say whether any flavours will return.
What flavours did Glens of Antrim Crisps make?
Confirmed flavours include Irish Sea Salt & Vinegar, Roast Beef & Mustard, a Thick Cut Jacket Potato range, a festive Roast Turkey and Stuffing flavour, and a Whiskey Smoked Bacon flavour under the Shindigs sub-brand.
Where were Glens of Antrim Crisps sold?
The crisps were stocked by Tesco and Sainsbury’s in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and by Dunnes Stores in the Republic of Ireland. They were not sold on Amazon UK.
