Local Potato Chip/Snack Food Brands

[SteveG1988]

In the Philly area we have Herr's, Wise, and Utz.

What are the local brands in your area that you find even at Wal*Mart

[jeffandnicole]

Herr's, Wise & Utz. :-)

[Zeffy]

Herr's, Wise & Utz. :-)

Yup, pretty much the same over here as well. Wait, we all live in New Jersey though, so that's cheating. 

[hotdogPi]

Lay's

[briantroutman]

Central PA must have more snack food companies per capita than anywhere else on Earth. In addition to Snyder's, Utz, Herr's, and Wise, which have since gone regional or national, there's

Charles (formerly in Mountville, PA, now a zombie brand unconnected to the original company)
Martin's
Gibble's (cooked in lard, in case you care)
Perhaps the worst chips ever: Middleswarth

[Brandon]

Jay's, Vitner's.

[corco]

Tim's, though they're from Oregon

[formulanone]

Zapp's in the southern half of Alabama (as well as Louisiana), Golden Flake in Florida, Georgia, Alabama.

Tom's in Florida and Georgia...probably seen them elsewhere in the southeast.

North Forks in Long Island are pretty good, too.

Cape Cod Chips can be found in any Target - I think I've seen them everywhere along the Eastern Seaboard, so they're not really "local only" - but bonus points awarded for always having a map on the back of the bag.

Jay's

Interestingly, you could find Krunchers! at Publix down in South Florida for the past 15-20 years.

On that note, a couple of Publixes in Southeastern Alabama / Northwestern Florida would have Tyrrell's Crisps, which hail from the UK. Not bad, but I can't seem to find them there anymore. Must have been a one-off warehouse deal.

[Big John]

Old Dutch

[pctech]

Zapps (which started in Louisiana) now owned by Utz I believe.

[SP Cook]

The only truly local brand is Mister Bee's, made in Parkersburg, which bills itself as "200 miles fresher".  We get both versions of Snyder, the Snyder of Berlin and Snyder's of Hanover, which distinguish themselves under a long ago trademark dispute by always placing the "of whichever small central Pennsylvania town" in their brand names.  Sheetz has Utz.   Cincy brand Mike-Sells shows up here and there, as does Cleveland's Dan-Dee.

[kj3400]

Herr's, Wise, and Utz.

This, but I'm like 2 hours down I-95 in Baltimore, so....

[6a]

Zapps (which started in Louisiana) now owned by Utz I believe.

I wondered about that, we just started carrying them at my work in Columbus.  Around here the big locals are Conn's, Grippo's (BBQ is great) and Ballreich's. Grippo's and Ballreich's both get delivered to us by guys in beat up box trucks, it's awesome.

Edit: just saw SP Cook's post, I knew I was forgetting one.  Mike-Sells is here too.

[on_wisconsin]

Old Dutch and Jay's here. Although Herr's is trying to make inroads into this region.

[hbelkins]

Mike-Sell's, Grippos, Tom's (grew up on Tom's potato chips and other snacks since the country store less than a mile from home carried them).

I've also seen Route 11 brand potato chips in Virginia.

[hotdogPi]

I've also seen Route 11 brand potato chips in Virginia.

I've seen them in northeast Massachusetts (Cracker Barrel). I'm not sure which part of US 11 the chips are from.

[hbelkins]

Oscar will know. I think he brought some to Laura at one of the meets they both attended.

[bing101]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_Goose

http://www.snakking.com/grannygoose.aspx

This brand was a Northern California only Snack company

But Snak King (Owners of Granny Goose) is now based in the Los Angeles area.

[kurumi]

Another from central PA: Middleswarth, especially the sour cream and onion. I can't say they had bad quality control, but the chips sure weren't consistent from bag to bag: sometimes a tart salty flavor with a hint of SC&O, and sometimes thickly coated with the SC&O powder. They were kind of nasty in a fondly remembered way and paired well with cheap beer.

I haven't been back to I-99 country since college, but if that ever happens again, I'm grabbing a 1-ounce bag of those chips.

(CT, as I recall, has Wise and State Line; but there's a lot more of the Lay's conglomerate presence now)

[roadman]

Growing up in Lynn (MA) in the 1960s and 1970s, we lived within a stone's throw of not one, but two, local potato chip factories.  Boyds of Lynn, which also had a candy store as well. and Vincents of Salem (MA).

Another local company was Granite State Potato Chips of Salem (NH).  Stopping at Granite State was always a special treat coming back from visits to our grandparents, who lived in Manchester (NH).

Boyds and Vincents both closed up shop in the mid-1980s, but Granite State solidered on until a few years ago.

[getemngo]

We have Better Made, which, similar to Faygo and Vernors, is available throughout the whole state but is just sorta "there" unless you live in metro Detroit - then it's a source of pride. Growing up, I didn't even know Better Made was a Michigan product.

There's also Cheeze Kurls in Grand Rapids, who mostly makes private label snacks for Meijer and such, but they also sell their own brand of (really thin and crunchy) Cheetos knockoff.

[oscar]

Oscar will know. I think he brought some to Laura at one of the meets they both attended.

Mt. Jackson VA, on US 11 but the company is on the other side of I-81.  I stocked up at the factory store there.

Route 11 chips have fairly uneven distribution even in Virginia.  Whole Foods usually carries them.  The Italian grocery store in my county carries some varieties.  I've seen them at 7-11s in the Shenandoah Valley along I-81.  But not the major grocery stores in my area (Giant/Stop & Shop, Safeway, Shoppers Food, Harris Teeter), nor at Wal-Mart.

Some varieties of Route 11 chips are featured in vending machines at some of the newer rest areas in Virginia, but not the regular food vending machines but rather the same machines that also sell "Virginia Is For Lovers" merchandise and other local specialty items. 

[hbelkins]

I've seen the Route 11 chips at Cracker Barrel, but I don't remember where.

I have also seen brochures for them at various rest areas/welcome centers in Virginia.

[roadman]

Oscar will know. I think he brought some to Laura at one of the meets they both attended.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=9182.msg224686#msg224686 - see Reply # 42

[cpzilliacus]

Herr's, Wise & Utz. :-)

These, plus Route 11 (which I have seen at random places in Virginia and in Maryland).