When Udhi Silva and his Co-Founder, Nick Coleman decided to move on from their medical supplies business, they didn’t just want to start another company, they wanted to have fun. That journey led them to a bold and unexpectedly heartfelt mission: to take pork scratchings seriously.
Udhi shares how Snaffling Pig brought personality and creativity to a long-overlooked category and how storytelling helped them win over retailers and consumers alike.
Read the full interview by Sophie McCallum, Senior Producer at RetailJam…
Udhi Silva, Co-Founder, Snaffling Pig
Let’s start at the beginning. How did Snaffling Pig get started?
Nick and I had been running a medical supplies business for about five years. It was a bit dry, if I’m honest. Around 2006, beer was going craft, snacks were going gourmet, and we realised no one had touched the humble pork scratching. It was a category that hadn’t been premiumised or had much personality added to it. Nick had the idea, and we made a bet to see where we could take it.
What did that early experimentation look like?
We started with new flavours and formats and did well in the on-trade, basically going pub to pub. But we didn’t want to be just a novelty. So, we started looking at how we could build longevity. We saw someone selling popcorn in jars and thought: “what if we put pork scratchings in a jar?”. We filled some jars, stuck them online, and they sold straightaway.
That’s when we started thinking in terms of what we call “minimum MVP” testing ideas quickly. We paired crackling with apple sauce, bought from Tesco, added our label, and it sold too. It was all about trying new things fast.
The advent calendar was a big moment for you. Tell us about that…
That was a proper punt. We thought: “how do we take this piggy to a new market?”. We launched a pork snack advent calendar. Then one day I got a call saying, “Holly Willoughby’s eating your pork live on TV!”. After that, we got onto QVC and Amazon. It was about creating moments people remember. Pork snacks aren’t just a product, they’re shared over a pint or given as a cheeky gift. We tapped into that.
We’ve proven there’s space for joy and storytelling in food categories.”
You ended up on Dragons’ Den. How did that shift things for the brand?
Dragons’ Den gave us real validation. We got investment from Nick Jenkins, which also helped us get meetings with Tesco and others. That was a turning point, but we knew we had to show that we weren’t just pork scratchings in a jar. We brought data to buyers showing that our main customer is actually a woman aged 33–44, often buying for herself or her partner.
How did you tackle the traditional image of pork scratchings?
Let’s face it, most people associate them with blokes in pubs. Very blokey. But we wanted to change that. We created different formats, like the ‘ValenSwine’ gift set for Valentine’s Day. We brought personality into the brand. We turned up to meetings in a Ford Ranger called the “Hamburghini” and drove a little Citroën van. It was silly, but fun. And behind it all was a commercial engine trying to grow a sleepy category.
What’s been the biggest change in how you tell your story?
The key has been leaning into personality and fun, without losing focus on quality or business goals. We’ve proven there’s space for joy and storytelling in food categories people don’t usually think about. And if you can surprise people and make them smile, even better.
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