© December 26, 2007
By Staci Dennis
Correspondent
This is not your average potato chip.
Take one high-starch, low-sugar, skin-on potato, three minutes in boiling sunflower oil and natural seasonings and, voila, the Chippery potato chip is born.
It's a potato chip that's made right in the grocery store, bagged and put on the shelf for shoppers to buy.
"People love to watch them being made and take home a fresh bag," said Missy Coen, a Chippery retail trainer, who was demonstrating the process recently at the Farm Fresh grocery in Haygood Shopping Center in Virginia Beach. They sell for $3.99 for a 6-ounce bag.
It takes just minutes to make a batch in the high-tech processor, and the shelf life is three weeks. The warm chips, which have no preservatives and are made of non-genetically modified potatoes, drop out of the machine into a waiting bowl where they are hand-seasoned with sea salt, barbecue, sour cream, or salt and vinegar flavorings. The Canadian-based company currently is working on creating white cheddar and ketchup flavors to add to the lineup.
"We wanted to make this part of our lineup of fresh, healthy foods," said Scott Bayne, senior vice president of merchandising with Farm Fresh. "Very few people in this country have access to fresh chips like these."
The Chippery machine made its Farm Fresh debut in October at the Haygood store. Since then stores on Coliseum Drive in Hampton and Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth have added it.
Nique Gellineau, a Chippery chipster flipper, said she enjoys creating the chips while people watch. She has the technique - the seasoning and tossing - down to a science. "I keep count in my head and make sure I don't spill any chips," she said. "It gets easier the longer you do it - I just make em and flip em."
Staci Dennis, sdennis@cox.net.