Bradford-based Seabrook Crisps is set to unveil a new “unique” product later this month.

Devised and developed by the company’s chairman and chief executive Ken Brook-Crispin, the new crisp will represent investment of more than £1.5m, according to Seabrook managing director John Tague.

He said: ‘‘We have been working on it for a number of years. We were going to launch it last January, but felt it wasn’t right. It’s a new crisp, unique in the market place. It’s a significant investment of £1.5m-plus in developing the product and launching it.

“Ken developed the idea. He comes into work and very actively works with people.”

Mr Tague hopes the new crisp will be revealed by about January 17. He said: “We are planning growth this year, up to September 2011, of another 20 per cent. In real terms we will have gone from a turnover of £12m to £34m.

“At the end of our five-year plan, which we launched in October this year, turnover should be in excess of £63m.”

The plan includes improvements to the company’s Bradford factory, where 184 people work full-time. Up to another 150 agency workers are employed when necessary.

About £5.2m has been invested in the factory in the past two-and-a-half years, including what is said to be the first robotic packing machine of its kind in the UK snack food industry.

In July, Mr Tague told Bradford Chamber of Commerce that Seabrook hoped to build a second factory in the Midlands or south of England to enable easier distribution to the company’s widening clientele of supermarkets.

In a week last year, 1.7m packets of Seabrook crisps were sold in Morrisons across the country – reportedly the Bradford-based supermarket chain’s most successful crisp promotion.

Mr Tague said: “If the new crisp takes off as we think it will, that should accelerate our plans. That’s good news for our staff. We have a really good foundation of investment in people and technology for the future.’’