There is a genuinely new crisp brand on UK shelves as of this week, and it is unlike anything else in the crisp aisle. Lion’s Brain, from British start-up A Kind Mind Ltd, launched on 29 September 2026 with three hand-cooked flavours built around lion’s mane mushroom extract and added zinc, both marketed on the promise of supporting normal cognitive function. It is a proper first for the category: a crisp brand pitching itself on brain health rather than just taste, made in the UK by established crisp manufacturer Savoursmiths, and rolling out across independent retail, wholesale, foodservice and online from launch. There is no dedicated Amazon UK listing for Lion’s Brain yet, since it has literally just launched, so we have used general Amazon search links below, and we will update this post the moment a specific listing appears.
What is Lion’s Brain and why is everyone talking about it
Lion’s Brain is the debut product from A Kind Mind Ltd, a British snacking start-up founded by Ian Harman. The brand was first profiled back in March 2026 as part of Entrepreneur UK’s “UK100 Start-Ups” list, where it was described as a first-to-market functional snacking brand redefining plant-based crisps, built around clean ingredients and mushroom based flavours infused with lion’s mane extract. That early profile called it a scalable, IP-led challenger brand for people who want a bit of added benefit with their everyday snacking, and now, six months on, the actual product has landed.
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The pitch is simple: take a proper hand-cooked crisp, made with premium potatoes in the UK, and build the flavour profile and the functional claims around mushrooms rather than the usual cheese and onion or salt and vinegar territory. Lion’s mane is the headline ingredient, described by the brand as commonly associated with cognitive wellness, and it is paired with added zinc, which does carry an EFSA-approved health claim that zinc contributes to normal cognitive function. That is a genuinely different angle for a crisp brand to take, and it puts Lion’s Brain closer to the world of functional snacking and nootropic products than it does to a typical bag of crisps, even though the eating experience is still very much a crisp.
Manufacturing is handled by Savoursmiths, a UK crisp maker already known for its own truffle and rosemary hand-cooked range, so this is not a start-up trying to build a factory from scratch. It is a new brand and a new flavour concept built on an existing, credible UK crisp production line, with legal compliance for the health claims verified by law firm Ashfords LLP and regulatory support from The Nutrient Gap. For a debut launch, that is a fair amount of due diligence behind the scenes, and it suggests the brand is serious about standing behind those cognitive function claims rather than just slapping a wellness label on a bag.
The three Lion’s Brain flavours
Lion’s Brain has launched with three flavours, all hand-cooked and all built around mushroom pairings rather than more familiar crisp seasonings.
- Wild Mushroom & Black Garlic – vegan and gluten-free, pairing an earthy wild mushroom base with the sweeter, more mellow depth of black garlic.
- Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt – also vegan and gluten-free, leaning into shiitake’s savoury, almost meaty flavour alongside a proper truffle salt seasoning.
- Raclette Cheese & Shallot – vegetarian and gluten-free, the one dairy based flavour in the range, built around melted raclette cheese and shallot rather than mushroom, giving the range a more indulgent option alongside the two mushroom-forward flavours.
All three flavours are confirmed gluten-free, with the Wild Mushroom & Black Garlic and Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt flavours also confirmed vegan, while Raclette Cheese & Shallot is vegetarian rather than vegan because of the cheese content. Every flavour uses an 8 percent seasoning inclusion rate, which is a fairly generous coating for a hand-cooked crisp and should mean the mushroom and cheese flavours come through strongly rather than getting lost.
If you already like the more adventurous end of the UK crisp market, this sits closer to a premium hand-cooked crisp than a mainstream multipack bag, and the flavour combinations read more like a small-batch food product than a supermarket own-label range.
Pack sizes, pricing and where to buy Lion’s Brain crisps
Lion’s Brain has launched in two pack sizes:
- 40g impulse single bag – RRP £1.50
- 150g sharing bag – RRP £3.75
Those prices put it firmly in premium hand-cooked crisp territory rather than budget snacking, which fits with the functional, better-for-you positioning the brand is going for. The brand says it is launching across UK independent retail, wholesale, fine food, hospitality and direct-to-consumer and e-commerce channels, so expect to see it first in independent convenience stores, farm shops, delis and online before it potentially picks up wider supermarket listings if it performs well.
As of this week there is no dedicated Amazon UK product listing for Lion’s Brain that we could confirm, which is entirely normal for a brand that only launched on 29 September 2026. Rather than link to something that does not exist yet, we would point you towards a search for Lion’s Brain crisps on Amazon UK to check for a listing as one appears, and in the meantime towards similar functional mushroom snacks and lion’s mane mushroom snacks already available if you want to try the trend now. We will come back and update this post with a direct product link the moment one goes live.
Why a mushroom and brain health crisp is a bigger deal than it sounds
It is easy to read “mushroom crisps with added zinc” and file it under novelty snacking, but there is a genuine trend behind this launch. Functional mushrooms, and lion’s mane in particular, have been one of the fastest growing ingredients in wellness food and drink over the past couple of years, turning up in coffee alternatives, chocolate bars and supplements long before anyone put them in a crisp. Bringing that ingredient into a proper hand-cooked crisp format, rather than a powder or a capsule, is a fairly clever way of reaching people who want the functional benefit but also just want a normal, tasty snack rather than something that feels like medicine.
A few things stand out about how Lion’s Brain has approached this compared with a typical crisp launch:
- It leads with a genuine functional health claim (zinc’s EFSA-approved contribution to normal cognitive function) rather than a vague wellness buzzword.
- It has gone through formal legal and regulatory review before launch, which is not something most crisp brands bother with for a flavour launch.
- It is positioned as an “IP-led challenger brand,” suggesting the founders see this as more than a one-off product and are building toward a wider functional snacking range.
- It launched with three flavours simultaneously rather than a single hero flavour, which is a confident move for a debut.
Whether it lands with UK crisp buyers the way more traditional launches do remains to be seen, since taste and price will still decide whether people come back for a second bag regardless of the health story. But it is a genuinely new idea in a category that mostly recycles the same handful of flavour concepts, and that alone makes it worth watching.
How Lion’s Brain compares to other premium UK crisp brands
The premium end of the UK crisp market has had a lot of activity in 2026, and Lion’s Brain arrives into a crowded but interesting space. Walkers recently launched its own premium sub-range, Walkers Gold, with flavours like Black Truffle and Somerset Mature Cheddar & Onion at a similar £1.50 to £2.00 price point, while established players like Savoursmiths, Kettle and Tyrrells have long owned the hand-cooked, higher price bracket. What sets Lion’s Brain apart is not really the price or even the hand-cooked format, since plenty of brands do that, it is the functional health positioning layered on top.
If you want to compare notes, it is worth trying a few truffle flavour crisps alongside the Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt flavour, since truffle has become one of the defining flavours of the premium crisp boom this year. For anyone avoiding gluten or dairy, it is also worth noting that all three Lion’s Brain flavours are gluten-free and two of the three are fully vegan, which puts the brand in a useful spot for people hunting for vegan crisps or gluten free crisps that do not feel like an afterthought dietary option.
For the full picture of who else is doing interesting things in UK crisps right now, our crisp brand directory rounds up every brand worth knowing, and we will be adding Lion’s Brain to it now that it has properly launched. You can also browse our full crisp brands section to see how it stacks up against more familiar names.
What we do not know yet
In the interest of only telling you what is actually confirmed, there are a few things we cannot answer yet about Lion’s Brain. We do not have a confirmed list of named retail stockists beyond the general “independent retail, wholesale, fine food, hospitality and e-commerce” description given by the brand, so we cannot yet tell you a specific shop or chain to walk into. We also do not have a confirmed direct-to-consumer website address to buy from at launch, and there is no Amazon UK listing yet either. As soon as any of that firms up, we will update this post rather than guess at it now.
Quick summary
Lion’s Brain is a new UK crisp brand from start-up A Kind Mind Ltd, launched 29 September 2026, made by Savoursmiths, built around lion’s mane mushroom extract and added zinc for cognitive function support. It comes in three hand-cooked flavours, Wild Mushroom & Black Garlic, Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt and Raclette Cheese & Shallot, in 40g bags at £1.50 and 150g sharing bags at £3.75. Two of the three flavours are vegan and all three are gluten-free. There is no Amazon UK listing yet, so we have used general search links until a specific product page appears, and we will keep this post updated as availability firms up.
What is Lion’s Brain crisps?
Lion’s Brain is a new UK crisp brand from start-up A Kind Mind Ltd, launched on 29 September 2026. The crisps are hand-cooked in the UK by Savoursmiths and are built around lion’s mane mushroom extract and added zinc, both linked to supporting normal cognitive function.
What flavours does Lion’s Brain crisps come in?
Lion’s Brain launched with three flavours: Wild Mushroom & Black Garlic, Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt, and Raclette Cheese & Shallot. All three are hand-cooked using an 8 percent seasoning inclusion rate.
Are Lion’s Brain crisps vegan?
Two of the three flavours, Wild Mushroom & Black Garlic and Shiitake Mushroom & Truffle Salt, are confirmed vegan. The Raclette Cheese & Shallot flavour is vegetarian rather than vegan because it contains cheese. All three flavours are gluten-free.
How much do Lion’s Brain crisps cost?
Lion’s Brain crisps launched in two pack sizes: a 40g impulse single bag at £1.50 RRP, and a 150g sharing bag at £3.75 RRP.
Where can I buy Lion’s Brain crisps?
Lion’s Brain is launching across UK independent retail, wholesale, fine food, hospitality, and direct-to-consumer and e-commerce channels. No specific named stockists or a confirmed Amazon UK listing have been announced yet, so check back here as availability is confirmed.
Do Lion’s Brain crisps actually help brain function?
Lion’s Brain crisps contain added zinc, which carries an EFSA-approved health claim that zinc contributes to normal cognitive function. Lion’s mane mushroom extract is included in the recipe and is commonly associated with cognitive wellness, though this is a general association rather than a specific regulated health claim for that ingredient.
Who makes Lion’s Brain crisps?
Lion’s Brain is made by British start-up A Kind Mind Ltd, founded by Ian Harman, and manufactured in the UK by established crisp maker Savoursmiths. Legal compliance for the brand’s health claims was verified by law firm Ashfords LLP, with regulatory support from The Nutrient Gap.
