Chips and Snacks Production going local, very local

Today we want to address a new development in the snack sector which I would call: "Snack production going local" . Two companies, "Fresh Chips" and "The Chippery" each offer a different concept that eliminates the industrial potato chips production line or the snack factory and replaces it with a mini factory you may soon find on your street corner, literally.

Both "Fresh Chips" and "The Chippery" have spent considerable time and effort to miniaturize the frying process that nowadays is carried out on an industrial production line and both companies are now at the stage that the fruit of their labour is being introduced to the market.

Their machines show that they have taken this development seriously: Both systems have integrated air purification , so there is no need to install a costly venting system to get rid of the frying vapours. Also, both companies have taken the fire risk of a frying operation seriously, so both systems come with a build in automatic fire extinguishing system.

Fresh chips, Vending Machine The final concepts are very different though: "Fresh Chips" offers a vending machine, and as such does not need any operator interference other than the occasional refill of oil, sauces, extruded snack pellets or a weekly check. "Fresh chips" provides all the necessary ingredients and materials.

"Fresh Chips" originally started of with the quest of developing a vending machine for french fries, but for now they have settled with a vending machine for "hot chips", an extruded snack that is fried in 35 seconds in the vending machine and is offered with a choice of 4 different sauces. "Fresh chips" even offers a vending machine with a build in monitor allowing advertisement, or to attract a crowd by showing a movie.

The chippery miniature potato chips production line"The Chippery" on the other hand is operated by a "chipper" who feeds the mini potato chips line with suitable (low reducing sugar) potatoes, who removes any bad potato chips and adds your favorite flavour to the potato chips, while you wait. This unit is intended for operation in a shop or supermarket as a special feature to attract customers with a premium, all Natural product.

Goodbye chips factory? Goodbye snack factory? Should snack manufacturers worry that they become redundant? I don't think so. "The Chippery" and "Fresh Chips" are definitely interesting developments that I believe are currently only in their infancy, but I think these concepts will be limited to the premium snack market. Something special, something like fine dining in the restaurant market.

But the premium snack market is not at all a small market and both concepts also benefit from powerful trends as "fresh" and "locally produced". Time will tell how widespread their penetration will be.