Triple-brand alliance brings Kent Heritage in a bag
Kent Crisps and Shepherd Neame have formed an alliance to launch a new Beef Brisket & Stout flavour, marking a significant move toward “hyper-provenance” in the premium snack market.
This collaboration unites three of Kent’s most recognisable institutions — the nation’s oldest brewer, an award-winning independent snack brand, and The Historic Dockyard Chatham — to create a product that leverages shared regional identity and maritime heritage.
The development of the flavour was specifically designed to highlight Shepherd Neame’s Iron Wharf Stout, a recently launched 4% ABV nitro stout inspired by Faversham’s deep shipbuilding roots.
The recipe combines the savoury depth of slow-cooked beef brisket with the roasted malt character of the stout, resulting in a dark, ruby-tinted profile that complements the hand-cooked, Red Tractor Assured British potatoes. To ensure broad consumer appeal, the product is formulated without MSG or the top 14 allergens, including being entirely gluten-free.
Beyond the ingredients, the partnership extends into cultural storytelling by featuring HMS Cavalier, located at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, as the front-of-pack partner. By including iconic maritime landmarks on the packaging, Kent Crisps transforms a standard snack bag into a vehicle for regional tourism. This approach allows the brand to tap into maritime nostalgia and regional pride, appealing to both local consumers and international visitors seeking authentic British provenance.
The commercial rollout is focused on the Shepherd Neame pub estate and high-footfall visitor destinations, such as the Mess Deck restaurant at the Dockyard. This creates a reciprocal marketing loop where the snack, the brewery, and the historic site all benefit from cross-promotion.
The launch event, held onboard HMS Gannet, served as a demonstration of how independent Kentish businesses can pool their cultural equity to compete against national brands by offering a heritage-backed experience.
For the wider food and drink industry, the collaboration serves as a template for successful regional branding. It demonstrates that using a named, specific ingredient — rather than a generic flavour — helps create a unified brand ecosystem that supports a partner’s new product development. Furthermore, the inclusion of a third-party historic site adds a layer of cultural legitimacy, proving that manufacturers can leverage localised history to secure a competitive edge in destination retail and premium hospitality environments.
Kent Crisps owner, Laura Bounds MBE, said: “We’re thrilled to be launching our new Beef Brisket & Stout Flavour crisps which represents months of hard work by the team and our partners. The launch marks one of our most significant and exciting partnerships to date. Our ethos has always been to champion the very best of Kent, from exceptional local producers to the county’s world-class visitor destinations and this launch brings all those elements together in a way that truly reflects our values – I couldn’t be prouder.”
