**1. Twisties Overview**
– Twisties were launched in 1950 by the General Foods Corporation and later acquired by the Smiths Snackfood Company.
– The brand underwent a brand overhaul in the late 1990s and introduced additional flavors like Chicken and Wicked Cheddar Zig-Zag.
– Base ingredients include ground corn, rice, and agar, with common ingredients like vegetable oil, whey protein, salt, and MSG.
– The manufacturing process involves heating, shearing, and pressurizing a mixture of corn, semolina, rice grits, and water.
– Twisties come in various flavors such as Cheese, Chicken, Toffee, Tomato, Salmon Teriyaki, and Peri Peri, with different regions offering a wider range of flavors.
**2. Incidents and Controversies**
– Twisties faced incidents like a 1997 recall due to wire pieces found in packs and being removed from shops in Malaysia in 2014 over contamination concerns.
– Frito-Lay lost a trademark dispute with Aldi Stores in 2001, and the packet size was reduced in 2009 due to higher raw material costs.
– Twisties were involved in incidents like sustaining lost hikers and a Faraday cage use.
– Limited editions and controversial commercials, including one involving occult imagery, have been part of the brand’s history.
**3. Cultural Impact and Variants**
– Twisties have been featured in various cultural contexts, from comedian Danny McGinlay’s cooking show to being used by lost hikers in Lerderderg State Park.
– Twisties variants like Fonzies in Europe and New Zealand Twisties differ in packet design, marketing, and flavor offerings.
– The snack has a global presence, with unique flavors and collaborations in different countries like Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the UK.
**4. Marketing and Distribution**
– Twisties have been marketed with slogans like ‘Life’s pretty straight without…’ and are claimed to be the number one extruded snack brand by Smiths.
– Various marketing promotions, including limited edition flavors, have been used to maintain profitability.
– Distribution involves various countries, with Fonzies produced in Germany and Mondelez Malaysia producing Fonzies for GCC countries.
– Reports suggest Australian tourists import Fonzies due to similarities with older Australian Twisties, highlighting the snack’s popularity.
**5. Growth, Expansion, and Business Partnerships**
– Twisties, under the brand name Fonzies, have expanded into new markets and product lines, with articles discussing industry growth and marketing innovations.
– The brand has partnerships with companies like North American Van Lines and Wilson Sporting Goods, as well as collaborations with brands under the Yum! Brands umbrella.
– Twisties have been featured in business publications like Business Review Weekly (BRW), discussing business strategies, marketing tactics, and industry trends.
– The snack’s presence in popular culture, business partnerships, and growth strategies showcase its enduring appeal and market presence.
Twisties are a type of cheese curl corn-based snack food product, available mainly in Australia, and other Oceanian countries such as Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, the Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, and the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They are also available in Europe, but marketed as Fonzies, and in France as "Belin Croustilles". It was launched in 1950 by the General Foods Corporation. The brand name is owned by The Smith's Snackfood Company. While originally an Australian-owned company, Smith's was acquired in August 1998 by Frito-Lay, the second largest producer of snack foods in Australia, which in turn is owned by American multi-national PepsiCo. In Malaysia, Twisties is a product of Mondelēz International, after having been a part of Danone and later, Kraft Foods previously. In Thailand, the Twisties trademark is owned by Lay's, which like The Smith's Snackfood Company, is owned by PepsiCo.
 The present Twisties logo | |
| Product type | Cheese curl |
|---|---|
| Owner | The Smith's Snackfood Company |
| Introduced | 1950 |
| Markets | Oceania Southeast Asia |
| Previous owners | Australia: Twistie Corporation Darrell Lea General Foods Corporation Malaysia: Danone Kraft Foods |
| Registered as a trademark in | The Smith's Snackfood Company (Australia) Twisties Mondelēz International (Malaysia) Twisties Lay's (Thailand) Twisty ('ทวิสตี้' in Thai) Frito-Lay PepsiCo |
| Tagline | Life's pretty straight without... (Australia) Life is fun with... (Pacific Islands) |
| Website | www |
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 2,050 kJ (490 kcal) |
61.9 g | |
| Sugars | 5.8 g |
| Dietary fibre | 1.5 g |
23.5 g | |
| Saturated | 11.4 g |
7.1 g | |
| Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
| Potassium | 17% 504 mg |
| Sodium | 39% 908 mg |
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. | |