Food chain Nando’s is celebrating the sale of its millionth bag of crisps sold since launching the range less than a year ago.

Fans of the Nando’s Chips range, which is being marketed by All About Food, have munched their way through over 600tonnes of their unique Peri-Peri Potato Chips.

Boffins at the company have calculated that one million bags of crisps equates to 600 tonnes of potatoes – enough to power a car to travel round the world 12 times or back and forth from London to New York 89 times.

Charlotte Dewhurst, Marketing Manager at All About Food said: “We were confident our first venture into the snack category with Nando’s would be a success after consumer research, but nobody could predict the sales of one million bags within a year of launch.

“This result has been down to a number of factors including the quality of the hand-cooked product, the uniqueness of Nando’s Peri-Peri chilli, the impactful packaging at point of sale and of course the nation’s current love of spicy food. Lots of other hand-cooked chips brands are currently trying to launch spicy varieties, but we are the only brand who can really deliver in this area, thanks to our unique point of difference, Peri-Peri.”

Launched in November 2008, Nando’s Peri-Peri 150g Chips are available from most major supermarkets as a spicy alternative to other premium products such as Kettle and Tyrells.

Hand-cooked and produced in the UK, the 150g sharing bags are available in three flavours and varying heat levels; Peri-Peri Chicken (Medium), Smokey BBQ Peri-Peri (Medium) and, of course, Hot Peri-Peri (Hot).

Following on from the success of the 150g sharing bags, All About Food recently launched a new format of 40g grab-bag style chips that are set to be stocked in a selection of retailers later this year, including convenience stores, garage forecourts and pubs, with an emphasis on impulse purchase.