Case 1- Tyrell’s: when the chips are down raise a glass!
The gourmet Tyrrells crisps brand was founded in the UK in 2002 by struggling potato farmer and entrepreneur William Chase. The product was a huge success, reconnecting snack foods with homegrown produce. The business expanded its market into Europe and later into the US and received numerous awards for the taste and quality of its crisps, in England as well as internationally.
Chase had a long-running dispute with Tesco over stocking his potatoes, and so refused to sell them any supplies of Tyrrells crisps. His previous farming business had collapsed when the large supermarkets, led by Tesco, began sourcing produce from overseas to push down costs. Instead he cultivated relationships with farm shops and delicatessens.
In April 2008, Chase sold a majority stake for £30 million to Langholm Capital. After Langholm took over, they dropped the existing distribution chain, and focused on large supermarkets including Tesco; they then dropped Chase as a supplier of potatoes when they found they could get them cheaper elsewhere.
Chase used the £30 million from the sale of his stake in Tyrrell’s to set up a potato farm near Hereford and built a distillery and started production of Chase Potato Vodka, using his own farmed potatoes. Researching the spirits industry Chase discovered that vodka could be made from any fermented agricultural base, distilled to around 40 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). Theoretically vodka could be distilled from anything that contains starch or sugars such as bananas or beetroots. To contain costs most vodka distillers use cereals rather than grains, as many believe that this did not affect the taste. The team at Chase, however, believe that using potatoes improves the taste considerably; they use starchy varieties such as Lady Rosetta and Golden Wonder – the same as they used for crisps, in fact, as they have a high dry-matter content they make a quality vodka. Chase Vodka ships in excess of 5,000 bottles a week, each retailing at £38 and the product was named best in the world at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits competition.
The company explored the possibility of distilling gin and decided to produce two types of gin using their own grown ingredients: one using its potato-vodka base, then flavoured with juniper buds as well as berries; and one using its cider-apple vodka base, flavoured with Herefordshire-grown botanicals including Bramley apples, elderflower and hops to produce unique tasting gins. The company sells its £40 a bottle spirits in upmarket outlets such as the supermarkets Waitrose and Booths and the company is wary of dealing with the supermarket giants who often treat spirits as loss leaders. To expand the business Chase offers tours of the distillery, warehouses and barns and guests are welcome to stay at the nearby family owned bed and breakfast hotel.
The original Tyrell’s snacks company business was sold by Langholm Capital in 2013 for £100m to Investcorp, a Bahrain-based luxury brands investor.
Questions:
Was farmer William Chase’s decision to set up Tyrell’s based on an ‘off the cuff’ basis and what critical issues might he have missed or given insufficient attention?
(5 Marks)
Was the decision to establish the crisp business an incremental or a radical innovation? How might the seven-step approach to business decision making have led him to anticipate the probability that Langholm Capital would supply supermarkets and then cease to buy his potatoes?
(5 Marks)
How would you describe the decision to distill two types of gin in the vodka distillery? Was it a limpet, cautious or innovative strategy?
(5 Marks)
How did Chase link creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation after setting-up the distillery business?
