Family-Owned Utz Potato Chips Has Big Plans for 100th Year

When the pandemic first tightened its grip last spring, millions of Americans stampeded to supermarkets and began a wave of panic buying. Then, as winter approached, they did it all over again. According to data from Inmar Intelligence, the two most-stockpiled items were toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But not far behind were snacks, with close to half of respondents saying they’d replenished their larders with crackers, cheese balls and, of course, potato chips. None of this surprises Dylan Lissette, who doesn’t need surveys to confirm what he’s seen firsthand. Lissette is the CEO of Utz, whose potato chips constitute the core offering in a snack empire that turns 100 this year. As a family-owned brand, Utz was accustomed to steady, if not spectacular, year-over-year growth. But the pandemic buying wave was an event Lissette likened to snowstorm behavior. “Everybody rushes [out] and picks up a bunch of milk and food and snacks,” he said. “We had really incredible growth that occurred.” Lissette’s been talking a lot about growth lately, and not just because Americans have been stockpiling bags of Utz. In August, Utz completed a reverse merger with publicly traded acquisitions company Collier Creek Holdings, allowing Utz to go public without the usual intricacies of an IPO. Now, with plenty of capital at its disposal but majority ownership still in family hands, Utz aims to become the next Pinnacle Foods, the packaged foods colossus that Conagra bought two years ago for $8.1 billion. It’s ambitious talk, but Utz is closer to realizing it than many might think. Though mega brands like Lay’s and Pringles dominate the chip category, Utz is a major player. Total sales for all its snack brands, including Bachman and Zapp’s, topped $1.3 billion for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 24, with Utz making up $544 million alone. The company's 14 plants crank out 3.3 million pounds of snacks every week, half of them Utz potato chips—which also happens to be the official salty snack of Major League Baseball. Yet a fair question might be: How? Since all potato chips are basically made from three ingredients (potatoes, salt and oil), how has Utz carved out its niche and prospered for a century? Well, they’re quality chips, of course, but there’s also intense consumer loyalty to what started as—and remains—a small-town brand. Hanover, Pa., natives William and Salie Utz began cooking potato chips in their home kitchen in 1921. And though many plants have been built over the decades, Utz is still based in the town. Related by marriage, Lissette is the fourth-generation steward of Utz, and his two children will be the fifth. “Even as a public company,” he said, “we're very substantial owners of the business. We're stewards of the business. We're passionate about the business.” That girl In the big and often bizarre world of brand mascots, one of the more curious residents is the little girl who graces bags of Utz potato chips. Her rosy cheeks match a huge bow in her hair—and she has no nose. Who is she? “Everybody just calls her the Little Utz Girl,” Lissette said, adding that the corresponding acronym, LUG, can be found all over internal communication. Founders William and Salie Utz had three daughters, and Lissette ventures that the mascot is a kind of composite meant to represent that lineage. “It’s not meant to be one of them,” he said. “It’s meant to be them.” Utz got its start in 1921, when William Utz and his wife, Salie (1), began making potato chips and selling them to local grocers. The company still keeps the earliest potato peelers and slicers in its collection (2). In Hanover, Pa., the Utz's house on McAllister Street is still standing (3). Utz's many fans include investor Warren Buffet (4), who for a time was rumored to be interested in buying the company whose many snack brands now include Dirty Potato Chips, Golden Flake and Zapp's (5).

Perspective

Small-Town, Family-Owned Utz Potato Chips Has Big Plans for Its 100th Year

The brand saw a huge spike in sales during the pandemic

Robert Klara

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Robert Klara