Kettle Chips
Salem, OR
Kettle Foods was started by Cameron Healy in 1978 in Salem, Oregon. Healy began with a beat-up van and no capital, selling cheese, roasted nuts and trail mixes to natural food stores along the Interstate. Healy says, "I wanted to develop products of natural integrity that could be flexible in both the natural food and mainstream markets." This vision led to the development of Kettle Chips in 1982. At that time, these were the only natural, hand cooked potato chips in the Western US.
From its inception, Kettle Foods has lived its values and portrayed them in its products. Healy continues as a President and Board Member supporting Kettle Management in maintaining the unique company culture and its values. He explains, "I believe in a conscious evolution in our society, where people are consciously seeking to live a more qualified lifestyle. I feel that it's important to help people cultivate values that are about integrity, respect, honesty and love. I have found that the workplace is a great environment to demonstrate this."
Kettle Chips uses only premium Russet potatoes grown in the Pacific Northwest on small family-owned farms. The Russet's high natural sugars give Kettle Chips their distinctly darker colour and fuller potato flavor. At Kettle Foods, they are concerned with the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in our food supply. For several years, they have been doing extensive research on all ingredients in Kettle brand products. All of their potatoes and all of their cooking oils are non-GMO. They continue to work with their suppliers to research the source of all ingredients in Kettle Chips.
