Wachusett Potato Chip Company facts for kids
Wachusett Potato Chip Company makes yummy potato chips and other snacks. It was started in 1937 by two brothers, Theofil and Steven Krysiak. They were Polish-American. The company is named after a nearby mountain called Mount Wachusett.
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The Story of Wachusett Chips
How It All Began
The company first started in a town called Clinton, Massachusetts. In 1947, Wachusett Potato Chip Company moved to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. They bought an old jail building and its land there.
The company changed the old jail into a place where they could make and send out their snack products. Over the years, they added more parts to the building. They also made changes to help with making and storing snacks. Their last big update was in the 1980s. This included adding air conditioning to the factory.
What Wachusett Chips Makes
Wachusett Potato Chip Company makes many different kinds of potato chips. Some popular flavors are sour cream and onion, ketchup, salt and vinegar, and barbecue. They also make ripple chips. Besides chips, they sell cheese curls and popcorn under their own name.
Where to Find Wachusett Chips
You can find Wachusett chips in many stores. These include big supermarkets like Walmart, Hannaford, Stop and Shop, and Price Chopper. You can also buy them at local restaurants and small food shops.
Wachusett also makes chips for other companies. They create special potato chips for supermarkets like Price Chopper Supermarkets. They also make chips for food service companies, such as Sysco. These chips are sold under different brand names.
Wachusett Joins Utz Foods
On October 19, 2011, Wachusett Potato Chip Company was sold. It was bought by a company called Utz Quality Foods, Inc.. Utz is based in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Utz paid $1.7 million for Wachusett's 56,000 square-foot building.
Utz announced that all 50 Wachusett employees would keep their jobs. This included members of the Krysiak family who started the company. Today, Wachusett still makes its products. It is now part of the Utz family of snack brands.
