| The story goes that the potato chip was invented in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1853. |
| Multi-millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt complained to the chef that his fried potatoes were sliced too thickly. |
| Chef George Crum responded by slicing the potatoes paper thin and frying them in hot oil. |
| The potato chip became an instant success. |
| Many companies have made large profits on chips. |
| The most successful brands are associated with the Frito-Lay Company. |
| Herman W. Lay of Nashville, Tennessee, was selling potato chips from the back of his car in the early 1930s. |
| He soon became a successful distributor for a brand of potato chips, which were made in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| When that company ran into financial problems, |
| Lay arranged to buy them out. |
| It now became H. W. Lay and Company. |
| Meanwhile in Texas, Elmer Doolin was trying to sell chips made from corn dough. |
| This was an old Mexican recipe, which Doolin had found in San Antonio, Texas. |
| At first, these Fritos corn chips were made in Mr. Doolin’s mother’s kitchen. |
| It took a few years before they sold very well. |
| Mr. Doolin moved the company to Dallas and began to expand his market. |
| In 1945, he granted the H. W. Lay Co. the rights to make Fritos corn chip for the American southeast. |
| In 1961, the two companies merged to become Frito-Lay Inc. |
| In 1965, Frito-Lay merged with Pepsi to become PepsiCo. Inc., |
| one of the largest snack food and beverage companies in the world. |
| In 2000, Frito-Lay sold 58% of all the snack chips in the U.S.A. |
| In Canada and the United States, Frito-Lay products had sales of $9.9 billion. |
| The most popular brand was Lay’s potato chips, |
| followed by Doritos, Ruffles, Tostitos, Cheetos, and Fritos. |
| Internationally, Frito-Lay has 28% of the market worldwide. |
| That amounts to $5.9 billion annually. |
| Why are potato chips and corn chips so popular? |
| Well, they are versatile. |
| You can eat them by themselves or with a sandwich for lunch. |
| They can replace other forms of potatoes and corn. |
| They can also come in various flavors. |
| For example, potato chip flavors include ketchup, |
| salt and vinegar, barbeque, dill pickle and cheddar. |
| Potato chips can be thick or thin, ridged or flat, spicy or bland. |
| Chips can be made from many things besides potatoes. |
| There is corn dough and tortilla dough, of course. |
| But chips can also be made from sweet potatoes, parsnips, taro root, peppers and other vegetables. |
| One caution about potato chips is that they are not a good source of nutrition. |
| Parents who send their children to school with a bag of potato chips for lunch |
| need to remember that these are just a snack. |
| Because snack chips usually contain a lot of fat, they can also lead to weight gain. |
| It is better not to eat snack chips too often, and not to eat them instead of healthier foods. |
| In Canada nearly $2 billion is spent on snack foods every year |
| and half of this is spent on chips. |
| People are always looking for new flavors to try. |
| Spicy chips are gaining in popularity. |
| The snack chip industry just keeps on growing. |
