By Nora Saks
From our February 2024 issue
The shiny chrome bags of Fox Family Potato Chips stand out in a snack aisle, although they’ve been conspicuously hard to find lately. According to co-owner Rhett Fox, demand for the Mapleton company’s chips, made with potatoes from surrounding Aroostook County farms, has increased 40 percent in the last two years. As soon as bags hit shelves, they’re gobbled up, despite Fox tripling the size of his production facility last year (capacity: 250,000 pounds of chips annually). He chalks up the chips’ popularity to their chief ingredient. “There’s a distinct, earthy flavor to potatoes grown in Maine,” Fox says. The business has come a long way since he started making chips in his kitchen back in the ’90s. When a new 40-square-foot fryer comes online this winter, he expects to increase production another 75 percent. For now, if you manage to snag a bag, Fox recommends popping a bowlful in the microwave for 10 seconds. “They’ll taste almost like they just came out of the fryer,” he says.
Fox Family’s coveted Aroostook County potato chips come in plain, salt and pepper, salt and vinegar, barbecue, and sour cream and onion.
