Twisties

History

In the early 1950s Melbourne businessman Isador Magid imported a rotary head extruder from the United States which initially did not work. After bringing out a technical expert from the USA as well as receiving valuable advice from the CSIRO, Magid started producing Twisties. The product was popular but large scale distribution was difficult so Magid decided to sell the machine and the brand in 1955 to Monty Lea from Darrell Lea for £12,000. Monty and his brother Harris experimented with the machine further using rice and various flavourings. Twisties became popular in Australia - some of its early success is attributed to promotional activity that included advertising the product on Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton's TV show In Melbourne Tonight, making it one of the earliest products advertised on that program. After an unsuccessful attempt to launch Twisties in the UK and competition for shelf space in Australia the Lea brothers agreed to sell the Twisties brand to the Smith's Snackfood Company.

Twisties are produced by feeding a mix of milled corn, rice, wheat and water into a machine known as a rotary head or random extruder. This machine cooks the mix at high temperature and pressure whilst forming the pieces. This process results in the characteristic Twisties shape with the knobbly surface and squiggly shape. After forming, the pieces are oven baked before being flavoured with a coating of seasoning and vegetable oil.

During the late 1990s the Twisties brand went through a brand overhaul, coinciding with the acquisition of The Smith's Snackfood Company by Frito-Lay. During the brand overhaul the appearance of the packet was changed to a more modernised look, adopting its current logo. As well as this, the texture of the snack itself was altered, resulting in a smoother finish.

Twisties were originally available only in 'Cheese' flavour, but 'Chicken' and 'Wicked Cheddar Zig-Zag' flavours were later introduced and became a standard part of the product line. There have also been flavours abroad as diverse as 'Toffee', 'Tomato' and 'Salmon Teriyaki', where the local palette suits them the most.

Ingredients

Since the snack's creation, its base ingredient has been ground corn, rice and agar. Other base ingredients standard in every flavour are vegetable oil, whey protein, salt, and monosodium glutamate (E621) as a flavour enhancer. Ingredients differ depending on the variety of Twisties.

Flavours

Twisties has a large variety of flavours which are sold in Australia, and in the different islands. Of these are the main flavours 'Cheese' and 'Chicken', found in any country that sells them. The islands have a more diverse selection of flavours available normally, however Australia experiences more limited edition flavours. This is due to The Smith's Snackfood Company's aim to "[re-energise] consumers' love for the Twisties brand", according to the company's senior marketing director Jenni Dill.

Twisties have not been localised or produced in Mauritius as of yet. The country's supply of Twisties are imported from Malaysia.

Australia

Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji

Thailand

Malaysia

Marketing

Twisties have been advertised since its last brand overhaul in the late 90's with the well-known slogan "Life's pretty straight without..." In the English-speaking Oceanic countries where Western vernacular isn't as well understood, its slogan is "Life is fun with..." Typical television advertisements play on the slogan by showing people in mundane situations being transported to surreal and exciting environments when they eat Twisties. Twisties are claimed to be the "number one extruded snack brand" by Smith's.

Twisties, as well as other snack brands owned by The Smith's Snackfood Company, previously included Tazos (pog-like collectible discs) in specially marked packets for consumers to collect. These Tazos came in many themes over the years, such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, The Simpsons and other popular franchises. This could be attributed to Twisties' success.

Advertising for the snack has almost completely stopped in the last decade in comparison to its past promotions. Twisties' largest (and most expensive) campaign ever was between 1982-1983 with its "Twisties jumper" campaign. Lillian Darrell, a previously unknown actor, played the role of an old woman knitting a Twisties jumper straight from a sheep. The promotion included free knitting patterns and free bags of Twisties. Other promotions were attempted afterwards, but they resulted in little success. Currently, Twisties relies heavily on limited edition flavours to keep hype on a profitable level.

International variants

Twisties in New Zealand are drastically different from the Australian variety in terms of both packet design, marketing and the shape of the cheese curl itself. Called 'twisties [sic]', they are manufactured by Bluebird Foods and are only available in cheese flavour. The packet features a penguin mascot about to throw a cheese curl as if it were a ball, and has a completely different slogan as compared to its Australian counterpart: it being "It's a straight world without Twisties!" They are less dense than the Australian variety, and their shape is more tubular and curvy without imperfections in the shape (Australian Twisties are more jagged and detailed). In New Zealand the Australian variety is not widely available.

Twisties are also sold on the Italian market with the name 'Fonzies'. Fonzies are pale yellow in colour, because they do not use the bright orange food colouring that normal Twisties use. As well as this, they are easier to chew because they're baked, unlike its Australian inspiration which is fried. Their cheese flavouring is very similar to that used in the Oceanian varieties bearing the 'Twisties' name, lighter and less prone to clump together during consumption, and with a more natural cheese flavour. The only quality that differentiates it from said varieties is its slight egg-like taste upon first bite, though it wears away after continued consumption. It is made through the same rotary head extrusion technique as in all other localisations, though the snacks are much smaller than those found in Australia, sticking more to a general thin shape rather than a selection of both thin and stout snacks. Its smell is much more pungent, as well. Fonzies are available in 'Gli Originali' ('Original') flavour, as well as 'Time Out', 'Choco', 'Hot Passion', 'Bacon','Hot Chili' and others.

Although sold in Italy, Fonzies are produced in Germany by LU Snack Foods GmbH. In the GCC countries, they are also sold with the name "Fonzies", produced by Kraft Malaysia.