Pulled pork crisps net inventor £1m

The judges have spoken, and an Essex father of one is now a millionaire after coming up with a new flavour for Walkers crisps.

Paul Rothwell, 40, of Westcliff in Essex, suggested 'pulled pork in a sticky barbecue sauce', after fending off competition from the creators of five other shortlisted flavours. His recipe won more than a quarter of votes from crisp buyers during the three-month 'Do Us A Flavour' competition.

"Congratulations are in order to Paul who has won the grand £1 million prize. It's been great seeing the public get behind their favourite flavour," commented Walkers spokesman Gary Lineker.

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The five runners-up - creators of chip shop chicken curry, cheesy beans on toast, hot dog with tomato ketchup, sizzling steak fajita and ranch raccoon flavours - will receive prizes of £10,000 each.

"The competition has seen a huge variety of flavours submitted by the public, including some interesting suggestions such as Dinosaur and Grasshoppers," says Lineker.

"Paul faced tough competition from a great selection of shortlisted flavours, so huge congratulations to the runners up too."

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However, anybody that's failed to try the new flavour may find it tricky. "From what I've heard, Walkers aren't going to be making any more, but I'd love it if they made it into a permanent flavour," Paul told the Mirror.

"I've not been able to find any in the shops for the last couple of weeks, so it definitely seems like they were popular."

Paul says he plans to take some time off visiting the US and Australia, but won't be packing in his job.

Despite the huge prize, the competition is likely to make money for Walkers too. Its first Give Us A Flavour competition, six years ago, is credited with boosting sales by 8.4%. It recently launched a similar competition in the US, where the shortlisted flavours have a decidedly exotic feel: Wasabi Ginger, Bacon Mac and Cheese, Mango Salsa and Cappucino.

And other vendors are getting into the act too: McDonalds recently held its own flavour competition, asking customers to come up with new burgers. The five winning flavours will be on sale for the next month - but there's no £1 million prize.

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