We have all obtained our favourites. For me, it is the under-appreciated scampi fry. For others, it is the packet of salt and vinegar crisps communally cut up open throughout a sticky desk, or the pork scratchings which may go away you needing a go to to the dentist.
The common-or-garden bar snack has been a part of UK social tradition for nicely over a century and nonetheless performs an vital function for punters and publicans in 2025. Patrons get an ever-expanding decisions of (very salty) snacks to graze on over a drink. Landlords use them to generate incremental, excessive margin gross sales or, provided that some snacks are a loss chief, merely attraction to a wider buyer base in a troublesome market.
On this piece we take a look at how the pub snack has modified over time and attempt to uncover what the nation’s favorite is in 2025.
How have pub snacks modified over time?
We have come a great distance from the times when Victorians had been downing oysters with their stout, however the pub snack’s operate hasn’t modified a lot by way of the many years.
It is the age-old adage – boozers need punters to gorge on salty snacks that preserve them thirsty.
Crisps began popping up as an choice in British pubs throughout the first half of the twentieth century and rapidly grew to become the nation’s favorite – with one producer dominating the market.
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Crisps will typically be seen on the bar. Pic: iStock
In 1934, 200 million packets of crisps had been bought in Britain annually, and 95% of them had been made by Smith’s. Their timeless Salt ‘n’ Shake crisps had been in every single place.
After the Second World Warfare, KP introduced peanuts into the equation, with pork scratchings and pickles additionally popping up on bar cabinets.
As pubs started to compete for area with quick meals, extra substantial gadgets started showing.
From the Sixties, ham and cheese rolls wrapped in cling movie had been an choice, earlier than sausage rolls, pasties and pies saved heat below a heater had been discovered on bars.
Throughout COVID one of many largest dialogue factors for a number of weeks was whether or not a Scotch egg constituted a snack or a meal.
The period of selection
Quick-forward to the current day and the bar snack staples stay just about in every single place – crisps, peanuts and pork scratchings. That holy trinity can nearly at all times be present in one form or type.
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These choices at my native are starters masquerading as bar snacks
However Pandora’s Field has opened because the flip of the millennium, and our snack decisions as punters have reached unprecedented ranges.
Some pubs make themselves recognized for going above and past with their choices.
It is not unusual to search out olives, pretzels, jerky and popcorn accessible in some boozers, and even enormous jars of pickles, eggs or chillis, blocking the sight of the lonely pack of Mini Cheddars hidden away behind the bar.
LovePubSnacks.com provides greater than 5,000 pubs and bars throughout the UK and says a few of its quirkier merchandise embrace smoked pheasant and wild mushroom crisps and their vastly in style poppadoms, which must be served with a separate mango chutney dip.
And it is not simply people being catered for. LovePubSnacks additionally sells snacks for our furry companions, with Paw Scratchies, Bark Bangers and Sir Woofchesters all flying off the cabinets.
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Pork scratchings are nonetheless a well-liked selection. Pic: iStock
The luxurious nosh
Selection not often comes low-cost, and the UK has witnessed a gradual rise in additional connoisseur choices in pubs throughout the previous 20 years.
Do not be shocked whenever you enter some watering holes to see a whole “bar bites” part on the meals menu, with hen wings, pork stomach bites or some £17 slow-cooked octopus able to accompany your drink.
Many pubs – like my native – will go for the most effective of each worlds strategy, providing a small collection of crisps and peanuts in addition to some fancier choices that ought to actually belong on the starter menu.
More healthy decisions?
Chances are high that if you happen to’re making an attempt to maintain wholesome, the pub is not going to be one among your most frequented spots.
However even if you happen to do pop in, many might be happy to see pubs catering for many who do not wish to devour their whole advisable each day salt consumption in three mouthfuls.
Hospitality administration platform ServedUp just lately analysed 1.5 million pub orders and located that gross sales of hand-cooked and more healthy baked crisps are on the rise, as are olives and cashew nuts.
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Peanuts and olives have develop into extra frequent in pubs. Pic: iStock
So, what is the nation’s favorite?
We’d have extra choices than ever in 2025, however there is no denying conventional decisions are nonetheless main the best way for punters.
Pub snack wholesaler JL Brooks backed up the findings, telling us that whereas selection is in every single place, Britons nonetheless love the traditional choices.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in demand for more premium, gourmet-style snacks, such as hand-cooked crisps, mixed nuts, and flavoured popcorn,” a spokesperson mentioned.
“However, traditional options like ready salted crisps and salted peanuts still hold their ground and are consistently requested.”
