Chips for tea in the 70’s usually involved a smelly chip pan and a potential fire hazard. Then came 1979 and along with Grease, Pink Floyd and the boob tube, McCain Oven Chips launched on a chip loving nation.
35 years ago home appliance technology was still very much in its infancy, and even the fridge freezer was a relatively new addition to the nation’s kitchens. Freezers were available in the 60s, but it was the 70s when sales really took off, and by 1974 1 in 10 households had a freezer. Part of the reason for needing a home freezer, was that mum was no longer at home to spend time preparing family meals; she was out at work.
In 1971 just 53% of the female population in the UK were employed, by 2011 this had risen to 76%. Clearly with an increasingly equal number of men and women both out at work during the day, this created a need for family meals to move with the times too.
It’s also perhaps not just a coincidence, that records of accidents at home relating to chip pans declined by approximately 40% from 1980 to 2002, according to the Home Accident Surveillance System.
In 2013 over 28 million bags of McCain Oven Chips were sold, the equivalent of 2,916 double-decker buses. 75.9% of British households now buy ovenable chips, a figure which was certainly driven by the launch of McCain Oven Chips 35 years ago.
The McCain brand has grown vastly since 1979, and four decades on Oven Chips are still prepared very simply, with a splash of sunflower oil and using only the best British potatoes. McCain also continues to work closely with the British farmers, some of whom have been with the McCain family for three generations.
So whilst your Village People album might not have weathered well, McCain delivers chips to your dinner table time after time.
Happy Birthday humble oven chip!
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