WOMELSDORF PA – Berks County snack maker Dieffenbach’s Potato Chips of Womelsdorf is celebrating a milestone of sorts, it announced Wednesday (March 6, 2024). That’s when the company bought its 25th-million pound of potatoes from an upstate farm for use in its Uglies-brand kettle-cooked potato chips.
Dieffenbach’s has been churning out the chips since 2017 from what it said might otherwise be considered “imperfect potatoes.” The manufacturer transforms them from so-called “food waste” into a marketable product now seen as an “upcycled” success. Sales of Uglies chips have climbed more than 600% during the past three years, it claimed.
The company’s Uglies division sells products nationally by that brand name, while products under the Dieffenbach’s label are distributed primarily in central Pennsylvania.
“Twenty-five million pounds of ugly potatoes have now been put to beautiful use,” making kettle chips “while helping farmers make ends meet,” company Vice President of Sales and Marketing Dwight Zimmerman noted. “Every day we are turning something ugly into something beautiful, creating an all-around win” for farmers, the community, and the manufacturer.
Twenty-six percent of U.S. produce “gets discarded for cosmetic reasons,” according to the company. Buying less-than-stellar-looking potatoes for the Uglies foods, it suggested, generates extra revenue for farmers. A Coudersport, Potter County, grower yielded that latest pound, according to a media release.
The practice also benefits families in other countries. Dieffenbach’s said it donates a portion of its profits to VivaKids, a Bernville PA non-profit. The VivaKids website reported it works with churches and ministries to support “the spiritual, educational, medical, and nutritional needs” of children worldwide.
Dieffenbach’s Potato Chips Inc., founded in 1964, is a fourth-generation, family-owned-and-operated kettle chip manufacturer.
Photo in collaboration with Esra Afsar on Unsplash+, used by Travels With The Post under license
Schwenkfelder July Campers to Explore Valley Travel