More About Lays

The Lays collection at Epicerie Corner brings together 37 products from PepsiCo's Lay's crisp portfolio: classic thin-cut potato crisps in a wide range of flavours, the kettle-style À l'Ancienne range, the wavy Paysanne Country Chips, oven-baked crisps, organic crisps, Fritelle corn-semolina expanded snacks and Bénénuts 3D's corn cone snacks — the full range of Lay's formats sold in France.

About Lay's

Lay's potato crisps were created in 1932 by Herman Lay in the United States. PepsiCo acquired the brand in 1961 as part of the Frito-Lay merger. In France, Lay's became the dominant crisp brand from the 1980s onwards, and its packaging and flavours have been adapted for the French market — including French-specific flavours such as Moutarde Pickles, Crème et Oignon and regional variants featuring Roscoff onion, Jura cheese and Ossau-Iraty. The range in this collection covers every Lay's sub-line available in French supermarkets.

Classic Lay's Crisps

The standard Lay's line uses thin-cut potato slices, lightly salted and available in a wide range of flavours:

• Lay's Nature Large Format 250g: plain crisps — potato, sunflower oil, salt — in the large sharing format.
• Lay's Chips Nature Familial 300g: the largest plain format, suited to group settings.
• Lay's Chips Nature Pack (6×25g): six single-serve portion bags, convenient for packed lunches or portion-controlled snacking.
• Lay's Chips Organic Nature 100g: plain crisps made from 100% organically grown potatoes — certified organic, free from synthetic pesticide residues.
• Lay's Chips Plain 150g: the standard 150g plain format.
• Lay's Oven Baked Natural 130g: a lighter option made using an oven-baked rather than fried process — lower fat content, the same crisp potato flavour.

Flavoured variants include Barbecue (135g and 250g family format), Roast Chicken (135g), Cheese (135g), Paprika (120g), Salt and Vinegar (130g), Spicy (130g), Bolognaise (130g), Cream and Onions (120g), Cheeseburger (120g), Mustard Pickles (135g) and Barbecue 6-pack (138g).

À l'Ancienne (Old Fashioned Kettle-Style)

The Lay's À l'Ancienne (Old Fashioned) range uses a thicker-cut potato cooked in a traditional kettle process — a slower, batch-fried technique that produces a firmer, crunchier texture than standard crisp manufacturing:

• Lay's Chips Old Fashioned Nature 150g: the plain variant of the À l'Ancienne range — thick-cut, hand-cooked style with a satisfying crunch and a clean potato flavour.
• Lay's Chips Old Fashioned Maxi 295g: the large sharing format of the plain À l'Ancienne.
• Lay's Chips Old Fashioned Ham 120g: the ham-flavoured variant, made using the same traditional recipe with added jambon seasoning.
• Lay's Chips Old Fashioned Mustard 120g: a French-market specific flavour — old-style mustard seasoning on kettle-cooked crisps. A distinctively French combination.

Paysanne Country Chips (Wavy Cut)

The Lay's Paysanne (Country Chips) range features a wavy-ridged cut, thicker than standard crisps and firmer in texture, with regionally inspired flavours:

• Lay's Natural Country Chips 150g: the plain wavy-cut format.
• Lay's Plain Country Chips (6×28g): the six-pack portion format of the Country Chips plain range.
• Lay's Country Chips Roscoff Onion Flavour 120g: seasoned with Roscoff onion flavour — Roscoff (Finistère, Brittany) is the origin of France's celebrated pink onion.
• Lay's Country Chips Jura Cheese Flavour 120g: inspired by the cheeses of the Jura region (Comté, Morbier), with black pepper.
• Lay's Paysanne Ossau-Iraty & Sun-Dried Tomato 120g: Ossau-Iraty is a Basque sheep's cheese with PDO status — this wavy crisp carries its characteristic nutty flavour alongside sun-dried tomato.
• Lay's Paysanne Chips Tapenade 120g: Mediterranean-inspired, with a tapenade (olive and caper) flavour profile.
• Lay's Mushroom Country Chips 120g: mushroom and garlic flavour on the wavy Paysanne cut.
• Lay's Natural Country Cream Cheese Garlic and Herbs 120g: fromage frais, garlic and herb seasoning on wavy-cut crisps.

Fritelle and Bénénuts 3D's (Corn Snacks)

Two corn-based expanded snack formats complete the collection:

• Lay's Fritelle Plain 80g and Bacon 80g: Fritelle are corn-semolina expanded snacks with a light, airy texture — a different format from potato crisps, with a milder, rounder taste. The Fritelle Emmental 80g (corn semolina with Emmental flavouring) is also available.
• Bénénuts 3D's Bacon 85g, Cacahuète 85g, Cheese 85g and Nature 85g: 3D's are Bénénuts-branded hollow corn cone snacks — the unique three-dimensional shape gives a crisp outer shell and a light interior. Available in four flavours: bacon, peanut, cheese and plain. See the full Bénénuts range for more peanut and corn snacks from this brand.

For a wider selection of crisps, snacks and aperitif nibbles, see Crisps, Snacks and Nuts and Snacking and Apéritifs.

Lays FAQs

What is the difference between standard Lay's and À l'Ancienne?

Standard Lay's uses thin-cut sliced potatoes cooked by continuous frying — a uniform, consistent thin crisp. À l'Ancienne uses a thicker cut and a slower batch-frying technique (inspired by hand-cooked / kettle-cooked methods), producing a denser, crunchier texture with more structural variation from crisp to crisp. The À l'Ancienne range is better suited to pairing with dips or serving as a more substantial snack.

What is Fritelle made from?

Fritelle snacks are made from corn semolina and potato powder (not sliced potato). The mixture is extruded and expanded to produce an airy, hollow or puffed texture — lighter than a fried potato crisp and with a different flavour base. The plain Fritelle format contains sunflower oil, salt and potato powder as its main seasoning.

Are any Lay's products in this range organic?

Yes — Lay's Chips Organic Nature 100g is certified organic and made from organically grown potatoes. It is currently the only organic variant in this collection.