An East Anglian crisp brand is celebrating take-off in the airline industry.

Luton-based Monarch Airlines is the first carrier to bite on a new product from Essex UK-based Fairfields Farm Crisps.

Fairfields has designed a special box for its snacks that it says is perfectly suited to high-altitude conditions.

With provenance the new buzzword for airlines looking to in-flight food, Fairfields has high hopes for the offering.

“This is a brand new and exciting project for us,” says Fairfields' Robert Strathern, who grows the potatoes used for the crisps on his Essex farm.

“We were approached by a leading airline distributor quite some time ago and felt straight away that it would be a great opportunity to develop a new product and get the Fairfields Farm Crisp brand out to a completely different audience. It's been a brilliant coup to score the Monarch Airlines deal so quickly.”

The new 40g packs consist of a sealed bag of crisps inside a Fairfields Farm Crisps branded box. Snackers can simply pour the crisps into the box and eat easily on the go.

So far the response on board has been very encouraging. “We've already had customers contacting us to find out where they can buy the crisps on the ground,” says Strathern.

“This is a fantastic new direction for the business and we hope more airlines will decide to serve Fairfields Farm Crisps on board in future.”

• Photograph shows: Laura Strathern and Robert Strathern