The word “strong” is doing important work here. McCoy’s isn’t offering gentle cheese and onion. They’re offering cheese and onion that announces itself, that refuses to fade into background snacking, that demands you acknowledge what you’re eating.
The cheddar is sharp. Properly, noticeably sharp, with a tang that standard cheese crisps don’t achieve. There’s something approaching actual cheese character rather than generic “cheese flavour.” Someone in product development cared about what strong cheddar tastes like.
The onion matches the cheese’s intensity. Sweet but present, assertive without competing. The balance is right, both elements working together rather than fighting for dominance.
The format advantage
McCoy’s ridges hold more flavouring than flat crisps can manage. For a bold flavour like Strong Cheddar & Onion, this extra capacity matters. Each ridge catches seasoning. Each bite delivers concentrated flavour. The thick-cut format turns the volume up.
Comparing to Walkers
Walkers Cheese & Onion is Britain’s bestselling crisp flavour. McCoy’s Strong Cheddar & Onion is better. Not as widely available, not as culturally dominant, but better. The thickness, the crunch, the flavour intensity. Everything that Walkers does adequately, McCoy’s does well.
Choose substance over ubiquity.
