The death has been announced of Ray Coyle, founder of Largo Foods and Tayto Park, at the age of 70. The winner of the Marketer of the Year in 1996, he started off in business growing potatoes and vegetables on 15 acres of land at Curraha, Co Meath, which was given to him by his father. A tireless entrepreneur, he soon expanded the farm to 800 acres.
When Ray Coyle had problems with bank repayments, he decided to raffle the farm. He managed to raise €1.2 million, which was enough to pay off the banks. In 1982, he launched Largo Foods, bought Perri, King and Sam Spudz crinkly crisps and rolled out Hunky Dorys supported by a series of irreverent ads and promotions. He bought the Tayto brand in 2006.
He built factories in Donegal, the Czech Republic and Moldova. He initially sold a 15 per cent stake in his crisp business to German multinational Intersnack in 2007 before selling his remaining shares in 2015. He opened Tayto Park in Kilbrew, Co Meath, in 2010. The theme park, with its zoo and rollercoasters, recorded 750,000 visitors yearly before Covid-19.
Built
New rollercoasters are now being built. As well as being named Marketer of the Year in 1996, he was awarded the industry category in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards, which was presented to him by President Mary McAleese in 2011. Last year, Coyle was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award at the Meath Chronicle business and tourism awards.
Ray and his wife, Roz, have two children, son Charles who runs Tayto Park, and daughter Natalya, an Irish Olympian in the modern pentathlon. He will be remembered for being generous with the help he gave to his friends in the food industry. Highly personable, he would love to share stories about his career and the ups and downs he had along the way.
