The Web also has provided a surprising source for new business, Jim said. A Minneapolis-based distributor found the Delicious Web site when he was searching for a snack food unique to his area. He had stocked hotel gift shops with a Minneapolis brand of chip and found no one wanted to buy the same chips they could buy cheaper at the nearby drugstore. So, with Delicious products, he could provide a new brand for the gift shops and wouldn't be competing against the same local brand, Jeff said. Delicious differentiates its chips by using potatoes with 80 percent to 90 percent pulp, a higher percentage than many companies.
More pulp yields a lower sugar count and is more disease resistant.
The company takes on potatoes from July to February, starting in Florida and making its way through Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Wisconsin and North Dakota. The facility can peel up to 8,000 pounds of potatoes an hour, which yields 2,000 pounds a chips. Several decades ago, the company annually transformed more than 830,000 pounds of potatoes into chips. With technical advancements and upgraded equipment, that number is now into the millions. Because of continued consolidation in the industry, it remains difficult to predict the company's future, Jeff said.