Ask someone to name Britain's cheese-flavoured snack and you'll get one of two answers. Wotsits and Quavers occupy almost the same flavour territory, but they're built completely differently, and always have been.
Same flavour territory, different snack entirely
Both snacks trade on a strong, orange, savoury cheese flavour, and both are aimed squarely at the same lunchbox and pick-and-mix-adjacent market. That's largely where the similarity ends. Wotsits is a puffed corn snack, while Quavers is a potato-based curl, and the difference in base ingredient shapes almost everything else about how each one eats.
The shape comes from the process
Wotsits' puffed-corn base gives it a light, slightly crumbly texture, with a seasoning coating that clings heavily, which is exactly why it's the snack most associated with turning fingers orange. Quavers, made from potato starch rather than puffed corn, forms into a thin curl with a much crisper, more brittle snap and a lighter dusting of seasoning. If you've ever noticed Quavers seem to dissolve almost instantly while Wotsits linger, that's the base ingredient at work, not just the flavour.
A brief history of both
Quavers came first: Smiths launched the curly snack in 1968 from its Lincoln factory, with an early flavour range of cheese and smoky bacon. The brand passed to Walkers, with packaging switching over in 1993 and Walkers becoming the formal owner in 1997. Wotsits followed in 1970, launched by Golden Wonder as a puffed-corn alternative to the potato crisp. It later passed through Tudor Crisps before landing with KP Snacks, which still makes it today. Two snacks, two different manufacturers, two different corporate journeys, despite chasing the same flavour.
Which one wins?
- Base: Wotsits is puffed corn; Quavers is potato starch.
- Texture: Wotsits is light and crumbly; Quavers is thin and brittle.
- Maker: Wotsits is made by KP Snacks; Quavers is made by Walkers.
- Launch year: Quavers, 1968; Wotsits, 1970.
- Coating: Wotsits' seasoning clings and stains fingers; Quavers' coating is lighter.
Neither one "wins" outright, they're built for slightly different snacking moods, but if you want maximum cheese-flavour payoff, Wotsits has the edge, and if you want something that disappears in two bites without weighing you down, Quavers does.
Frequently asked questions
Are Wotsits and Quavers made by the same company?
No. Wotsits is made by KP Snacks; Quavers is made by Walkers. They started with rival crisp makers, Golden Wonder and Smiths.
What's the texture difference between Wotsits and Quavers?
Wotsits are puffed corn and light and crumbly; Quavers are potato-based and thinner and crisper.
Which came first, Wotsits or Quavers?
Quavers, launched in 1968. Wotsits followed in 1970.