Popchips is an American brand of popped potato and corn products marketed as similar to

potato chips A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or ap ...

. They are manufactured by processing

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. T ...

at high pressure and temperature, in a process similar to that used for

puffed rice cakes The puffed rice cake is a flat hard food made with puffed rice. Typically, it is eaten as a snack or used as a base for other ingredients. While it is low in nutrients, it is generally considered to be a low-calorie food, and is often consumed ...

History

Keith Belling is a co-founder and CEO of Popchips which was created in 2007. Belling teamed up with Patrick Turpin, and created a new popped chip. The company created a chip that utilizes potato and corn products that are cooked at a high pressure and temperature. Turpin co-founded Popchips, Inc., and serves as its President. In November, 2015 David Ritterbush was named CEO of the company, replacing Paul Davis.

Recognition

The company was rated by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

as among America's top 20 most promising companies in 2011. Forbes also reported that investors in the company included

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

, David Ortiz,

Jillian Michaels Jillian Michaels (born February 18, 1974) is an American personal trainer, businesswoman, author, and television personality from Los Angeles, California. Michaels is best known for her appearances on NBC, particularly ''The Biggest Loser''. She ...

, and

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

Ashton Kutcher controversy

Popchips received widespread criticism for their May 2012 video ad campaign featuring actor

. The campaign featured Kutcher as an Indian man 'looking for love' in a dating ad-style spoof. Kutcher's use of brown-face make up and a stereotypical Indian accent was deemed racially insensitive and offensive and received backlash from online viewers and members of the Indian-American community.

Celebrities

was the first celebrity to endorse the company, with 13 million followers on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Kutcher boosted the publicity of Popchips. In 2012, Popchips also gained another celebrity endorser, Katy Perry. Since 2012, Perry featured in advertisements and also helped to launch her own flavor of Popchips, Katy's Kettle Corn.

Awards

Since 2007, Popchips has won the following awards: *Best Crispy Snack for Kids -

IVillage iVillage, Inc. was a mass media company that operated the ”most popular female-oriented sites” on the internet in the 1990s. In addition to ivillage.com, the company operated iVillage UK, Astrology.com, GardenWeb, and the NBC Digital Health ...

*Best Snack -

Shape (magazine) ''Shape'' is a monthly English language fitness magazine started by Weider Publications in 1981, founded by Christine MacIntyre (a pioneer in women's free weight fitness) and became the number one women's fitness magazine. At that time, Weider ...

*Best Potato Chip -

Men's Health (magazine) ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. i ...

*Outstanding Snack - sofi Awards *Best Chips - Real Simple (magazine) *Best Chips Under 100 Calories - Eat This, Not That (magazine) One of the 8 Most Addicting Foods - Yahoo! Shine *Best Low Calorie Snack - Good Housekeeping (magazine) *Best Chips - Slash Food *Best Crunchy Snack -

Fitness (magazine) ''Fitness'' is a United States-based women's magazine, focusing on health, exercise, and nutrition. It is owned and published by the Dotdash Meredith. The editor-in-chief of ''Fitness'' is Betty Wong. History ''Fitness'' was launched in 1992, ...

* #1 Potato Chip - Kiwi (magazine) *Best Chips -

Health (magazine) ''Health'' (formerly ''In Health'') was an American magazine focused on women's health and owned by Dotdash Meredith. The magazine's topics range from improper diet to dealing with life issues such as weak relationships and growing stress. Additio ...

Distribution

Popchips provides its snack through a network of

retail stores The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are ...

including Target, Safeway, and Walgreens in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and also online.

Products

Popchips are produced in a number of flavors in addition to the original flavor: Potato *Sea Salt *Sour Cream & Onion *Barbeque *Sea Salt & Vinegar *Thai Sweet Chilli *Mature Cheddar & Onion Potato Ridges *Crazy Hot *Buffalo Ranch *Cheddar and Sour Cream

Nutritional Information

* A share size bag of potato popchips (3 oz.) contain 120 calories per serving size (1 oz.). * A share size bag of

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...

popchips (3.5 oz.) contain 120 calories per serving size (1 oz.). * A share size bag of Katy's Kettle Corn popchips (3.5 oz.) contain 130 calories per serving size (1 oz.).

References

{{reflist

External links

popchips company website
Brand name snack foods Brand name potato chips and crisps British snack foods