Kettle Foods, Inc. is an American manufacturer of

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

s, based in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, United States, with a European and Middle East headquarters in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, United Kingdom. As of 2006 they were the largest

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

potato chip

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

in the U.S. The company, founded in 1978 by Cameron Healy as "N.S. Khalsa Company", was previously sold to Lion Capital in 2006 and was owned by Diamond Foods from 2010 to 2016. In February 2016, Snyder's-Lance finalized their purchase of Diamond Foods. Snyder's-Lance (and their Kettle Foods division) was purchased by

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

–based

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

in March 2018.

History

The company was founded by Cameron Healy in 1978 as the "N.S. Khalsa Company"; it produced its first potato chips in 1982. In 1988, following a motorcycle trip taken by the company's founder and his son, Kettle Foods established a UK branch in a converted shoe factory in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England; the branch moved five years later to its current UK home, a newly built factory on the outskirts of Norwich. In 2003, the company installed the largest solar array in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

with the goal of using more green energy at their Salem plant. The company was sold in 2006 to a British private equity group,

Lion Capital LLP Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm specialising in investments in the consumer sector. Previous and current consumer brands owned by Lion have included Weetabix, Jimmy Choo Ltd, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints. Th ...

, for $280–320 million. In September 2007, the company opened its second US production facility in

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit ( ) is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. Beloit is a principal city of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville–Beloit metropolitan statistical area (Rock Co ...

, after receiving $500,000 in state economic development money. Kettle built the first manufacturing plant to be awarded ''gold certification'' in the

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

program from the United States Green Building Council. In October 2007, campaigns were launched on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

calling for a boycott of Kettle Foods products following allegations that the company was attempting to dissuade workers at its

factory from joining the Unite trade union. The company denied the claim but acknowledged that it had taken advice from Omega Training, a UK subsidiary of the U.S. company The Burke Group, specialists in union avoidance. In August 2008,

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

announced a settlement with Kettle Foods, the makers of Cape Cod Potato Chips, and

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay, Inc. (; ) is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and sells snack foods. It began in the early 1930s as two companies, Fritos, the Frito Company and Lay's, H.W. Lay & Company, that merged in 1961. Frito-Lay itself merg ...

for violating the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. The state had alleged in 2005 that the potato chips from the companies failed to document that they contained high levels of

acrylamide Acrylamide (or acrylic amide) is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH2=CHC(O)NH2. It is a white odorless solid, soluble in water and several organic solvents. From the chemistry perspective, acrylamide is a vinyl-substituted primary ...

, a

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

. Kettle Foods paid $350,000 in civil penalties and costs and agreed to cut their potato chips' levels of acrylamide to 275 parts per billion by 2011, an 87% reduction. Lion Capital put Kettle Foods up for sale in December 2009, with an asking price of around US$700 million and in February 2010 sold it for $615 million to California-based Diamond Foods, which owns brands such as Pop Secret popcorn. The sale was finalized the following month.

Outside of the US and UK

The Kettle Foods UK office also supports a network of independent distributors through which Kettle Foods' products are made available to countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden. Kettle Foods is unaffiliated with the ''Kettle Chip'' brand sold in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

which is owned by Snack Brands Australia.

Potato chips

Kettle Foods products, marketed as all-natural, is best-known for its potato chips. Their potato chips are fried using expeller-pressed high- monounsaturated

safflower Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is one of the world's oldest crops; today, it is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. ...

and/or

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

and/or canola oil. The company has occasionally held contests to introduce new flavors. The 2006 contest winners were "Tuscan Three Cheese" and "Buffalo Bleu", a spicy, savory chip; past contest winners include "Cheddar Beer", "Jalapeno Jack" and "Spicy Thai".

Ingredients

As of 2016, the ingredients for the company's most basic chip ("Sea Salt") were: potatoes,

and/or

and/or canola oil,

sea salt Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea sal ...

. Many other flavors use ingredients like natural flavors,

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...

, and

yeast extract Yeast extracts consist of the cell contents of yeast without the cell walls; they are used as food additives or flavorings, or as nutrients for bacterial culture Growing media, media. They are often used to create savoury flavors and umami tast ...

Flavors

The following is a list of potato chip flavors sold by the company (as of 2025):

United States

Source: * Apple Cider Vinegar (Made with Avocado Oil) * Backyard Barbeque * Chamoy (Limited Edition) * Dill Pickle (Krinkle Cut) * Farmstand Ranch * Habanero Lime (Krinkle Cut) * Himalayan Sea Salt (Air Fried) * Honey

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

* Jalapeño * Jalapeño (Air Fried) * Parmesan Garlic * Pepperoncini * Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper (Krinkle Cut) *

Sea Salt Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea sal ...

* Sea Salt & Vinegar * Sea Salt & Vinegar (Air Fried) * Sea Salt Pink Peppercorn (Made with Avocado Oil) * Special Sauce (Made with Avocado Oil) * Texas BBQ (Air Fried) * Truffle & Sea Salt (Krinkle Cut) * Unsalted

United Kingdom

Source: * Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup * Gressingham Duck (Plum Sauce and Spring onion) * Jalapeño Chilli * Lightly Salted * Mature Cheddar & Red Onion * No Added Salt * Sea Salt with Crushed Black Peppercorns * Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar * Smoky Barbecue * Sour Cream and Onion * Spicy Chilli * Steakhouse Barbecue * Sweet Chilli (& Sour Cream)

Rest of Europe and the Middle East, as of 2013

Source: * Sea Salt * Honey Barbecue * Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream * Sour Cream & Sweet Onion * Sea Salt, Rosemary & Garlic * Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup * Mature Cheddar & Red Onion * Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar * Sea Salt & Crushed Black Pepper * Chilli with Jalapeño & Red Chillies ;Notes

References

External links

* {{Companies based in Salem, Oregon Brand name potato chips and crisps Snack food manufacturers of the United States Food manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Salem, Oregon Beloit, Wisconsin Companies based in Norwich Food and drink companies established in 1978 2006 mergers and acquisitions 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2016 mergers and acquisitions 1978 establishments in Oregon Snyder's-Lance Inc. brands