It’s one of those phrases you hear so often, you stop questioning it.
Ready Salted.
It rolls off the tongue like an old friend — familiar, unassuming, quietly comforting.
But if you pause for a moment and actually ask, “Why are they called that?” or “What are they ready for?” the answer leads you into a little corner of crisp history that says a lot about how British snacking evolved.
The salt twist that came before
Before “Ready Salted” became a standard flavour, crisps weren’t actually salted at all — at least not in the bag.
When Frank Smith, founder of Smith’s Crisps, began selling potato crisps in the UK in the 1920s, they came unseasoned. Inside the packet was a small blue twist of salt, allowing the eater to season their own crisps to taste.
This DIY approach was both charming and practical, and it became a hallmark of early British crisp culture. People still fondly remember the ritual of untwisting the blue sachet, sprinkling the salt, giving the bag a shake, and diving in. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1960s that this tradition started to change.
The shift to pre-salted convenience
As mass production advanced and consumer habits shifted toward convenience, crisp makers began experimenting with pre-salting the crisps during the manufacturing process. No more fiddling with paper twists of salt — the flavour was already on the crisp, ready to go straight out of the bag.
To help distinguish this new, modern version from the old salt-sachet kind, manufacturers called them “Ready Salted” — crisps that were, quite literally, already salted and ready to eat.
It sounds obvious now, but at the time it was a selling point. The name stuck, and even though there’s no longer a need to make the distinction, it’s never gone away.
Ready salted: the quiet classic
Today, Ready Salted is the foundation of the crisp world — the baseline against which all other flavours are judged. It’s simple, clean, and timeless. And while the name might feel old-fashioned in a world of jalapeño sour cream and wagyu beef-infused crisps, it still carries a quiet authority.
There’s something gently nostalgic about the phrase too. “Ready Salted” evokes a simpler time, when snacks came in greaseproof bags and the blue salt twist was part of the experience. Even now, the name serves as a little nod to the past — a reminder of the crisp’s humble beginnings.
A flavour that tells a story
So next time you reach for a packet of Ready Salted, you’ll know there’s a reason for the name. It isn’t just a description — it’s a label born out of transition, from handmade snack to factory-sealed perfection. It’s a small piece of British food history, tucked quietly into the supermarket shelf.
