Herr's is an American brand of

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

s and other

snack food A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

s produced and marketed by eponymous private American company Herr Foods Inc. based in

Nottingham, Pennsylvania Nottingham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place that is located in West Nottingham Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. History and notable features It is home to the 651-acre Nottingham County Park, ...

. Their products are sold primarily throughout the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

and Canada and they have a stronghold in the Mid-Atlantic region. Their products are sold in all 50 American states and in over 40 countries.

History

In 1946, Jim Herr, then 21 years old, purchased a small potato chip company in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

. Initial sales averaged approximately thirty dollars a week ($ today, adjusted for inflation). In 1958, the company introduced flavored potato chips and in 1974, switched to foil packaging from the traditional glassine bags. In the 1970s and 1980s there was a growth in the snack food industry which prompted an expansion in the variety of products being manufactured including corn chips, tortilla chips, and pretzels. The Herr Angus Farm, a cattle farm which made use of potato waste products, was added in the 1980s. Herr began transferring control of the company to his sons, Ed Herr and J. M. Herr, in the 1990s. Ed took over as company spokesman. Jim retired as company chair in favor of J. M. Herr in January 2005, but remained on the board of directors until his death. Jim Herr died on April 5, 2012, at the age of 87. Ed Herr and J. M. Herr assumed the roles of president and executive chairman respectively.

Products

Herr's produces a wide variety of snack foods including

potato chips Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

, pretzels, tortilla chips, cheese curls,

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...

, and onion rings. They produce, as of July 2016, 37 different potato chip varieties with an emphasis on strong and spicy flavors. Among their offerings are Ragin

Ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

, Buffalo Blue Cheese, Old Bay,

Horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes Mustard plant, mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and us ...

, Baby Back Ribs, Kansas City

Steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

Hot Sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa (sauce), salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of Mass production, mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other ho ...

, and

Jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

in addition to more traditional varieties such as

Barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

, Kettle Cooked, Sour Cream & Onion, Cheddar & Sour Cream, Salt & Pepper, Ketchup, Habanero and Creamy Ranch, and Salt & Vinegar. In January 2016, Herr's released a picture on social media previewing a new Crab Fries flavored potato chips in partnership with Chickie's & Pete's, a sports bar also headquartered in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

region. Herr's planned to release the chips to stores a couple of months after the announcement, however the chips instead were released a month later in February due to popular demand. They also released a BBQ chips line in partnership with Stubbs BBQ sauce. Herr's potato chips are sold in distinctive foil packaging.

In popular culture

A subplot of an episode of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' features

Jim Halpert James Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder Miff ...

and Karen Filippelli spending an entire workday searching for a package of Herr's salt and vinegar chips. In a DVD exclusive for season 3, Kevin Malone makes a quesadilla out of Herr's Sour Cream & Onion chips and spray cheese.

Visitors' center

The Herr's Visitors' Center was built in 1989 and is adjacent to the plant in Nottingham, Pennsylvania. Tour guides lead visitors through both the visitors' center and the plant. The tours last approximately one hour.

References

External links

{{commons category
Official website
Brand name potato chips and crisps Snack food manufacturers of the United States American companies established in 1946 Companies based in Chester County, Pennsylvania 1946 establishments in Pennsylvania Food and drink companies established in 1946 Snack food manufacturers of Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Chester County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania culture