BETTER MADE SNACK FOODS CELEBRATES NATIONAL POTATO CHIP DAY ON MARCH 14TH, THE 169TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE POTATO CHIP!

DETROIT, MI – Better Made Snack Foods – still made fresh daily in Detroit – is celebrating National Potato Chip Day on Monday, March 14th, the 169th anniversary of the Potato Chip. Better Made is Michigan’s favorite potato chip – a snack that remains the largest selling segment of the global salty snack market with sales over $31B in 2020 and is projected to grow to $39.8B by 2026.

And to think, it all started as a prank! According to folklore, here’s the story of the joke that became a worldwide sensation: Potato Chips were first made in 1853 while Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was on vacation in New York. While at the Moon’s Lake Lodge, he kept sending his fried potatoes back to the kitchen because he said they were too thick and not crunchy enough. The chef, a Native American named George Crum, decided that he would slice them paper-thin, fry them in oil, and salt them as a joke to the Commodore. It backfired as they became an instant success and the restaurant became well known for them!

In 1896 when chips became a staple in cracker barrels and in glass cases, a woman came up with the idea of using a heated iron and waxed paper to form the first potato chip bag. The bags were filled as people bought them and sealed shut with the warming iron. And believe it or not, during WWII, the Government declared potato chips to be a nonessential food and banned their production! It wasn’t until a loud cry went up all over the country that they rescinded their order!

“Our classic flavors continue to be what our fans love most about us, and we have a wide variety of flavors to appeal to all tastes,” says Dave Jones, President of Better Made Snack Foods. “While our Original potato chip is still king, our classic Barbecue and Red Hot potato chips are topping the flavor charts. We have been making fresh, great-tasting potato chips for over 90 years, and people all over the country love them. Our snack foods make a great gift to send to family and friends who need that taste of home. We ship anywhere in the continental U.S., as well as APO/FPO addresses for our brave men and women in the armed forces.”

Founded in 1930 in Detroit as Cross and Peters, and now in its 91st year, Better Made continues to develop and provide a wide variety of high-quality award-winning snack foods, including assorted original and flavored potato chips, and potato sticks, gourmet popcorn, pretzels, tortilla chips, pork rinds, and more! The family-owned company uses locally grown potatoes and the finest oils. For more information, please visit www.bettermade.com. You may also follow Better Made on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Michigan Made – Better Made, now featured all around Michigan in your favorite food outlets.

FUN POTATO CHIP TRIVIA

* Statista reports that in 2020, 34.69 million Americans ate an average of 16 or more bags of chips.

* Approximately nine out of ten households in the U.S. consume at least one type of salty snack, with potato chips having the highest consumption level at 85%

* Potato chips were declared an unessential food at the outset of World War II and production of them was completely halted for a time. It was only after a protest that the War Production Board reversed their decision.

* On average, it takes approximately 100 pounds of potatoes to make 25 pounds of potato chips.

* Prior to mass distribution, potato chips were dispensed in bulk from barrels or glass display cases in grocery stores. Throughout the years, potato chips have been packaged in cans, paper bags, cellophane, plastic, aluminum foil and cardboard tubes.

* Flavored chips were introduced in the 1950s. Barbeque chips were the first flavor.

* 94% of consumers surveyed by Mintel in 2019 purchased potato chips.

* According to Statista, in 2020 the number of U.S. consumers eating different flavors of potato chips, in millions, was: Plain: 191.19 Barbecue; 86.95 Sour cream and onion: 69.67