EXETER — One of Pennsylvania’s most treasured delicacies took center stage Saturday, as over a dozen fierce competitors crunched and ripped their way through bag after bag of Middleswarth potato chips as part of Northeast Snacks’ annual chip-eating contest.
Sabatini’s Bottleshop and Bar on Wyoming Avenue welcomed ferocious eaters from as close as Wilkes-Barre and as far as Maryland for Saturday’s contest, which returned after a hiatus in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We missed you all last year,” said Northeast Snacks founder Albert Martino as he prepared to start the competition.
Martino founded Northeast Snacks seven years ago as a solution to a problem that he faced upon moving out of the area to Phoenix. Middleswarth is based in Middleburg, Snyder County.
“I couldn’t get my hands on Middleswarth chips, I would ask people to send them out to me but it was difficult,” Martino said.
Now, anyone who’s left the Keystone State but still craves the likes of Tastykake cupcakes, Gertrude Hawk chocolates and more local treats could go to the Northeast Snack websites and order themselves anything they like.
As everyone gathered at Sabatini’s could attest to, Middleswarth chips — and Middleswarth Bar-b-q chips in particular — have always had a strong hold on the area.
So much so that, a few years back, Martino decided to start this annual chip-eating competition.
“We’ve been doing this for six years, not counting last year because of COVID,” he said. “It’s always a great time, it’s so much fun to watch.”
Saturday’s contest had 15 competitors on the table, with a seemingly-endless spread of potato chip bags waiting for them all.
The rules were simple: at 11 a.m., Martino gave the signal and eaters had five minutes to eat as many chips as they could possibly stomach.
Among the competitors, a theme was present: rather than competitive eaters, this assembled group was comprised largely of first-time competitive eaters who just love Middleswarth.
“I went to Juniata [College], that’s where I discovered these chips,” said Georgianna Porter, who journeyed from Frederick, Md. to compete on Saturday. “They’re unbelievable.”
Some competitors, like Joe Rogers from Mansfield, brought their families to watch the action — and, in Rogers’ case, film it.
“We have a family YouTube channel, I thought it would be fun to come up and film this whole thing,” Rogers said. “I just want to get through one bag, just to say I competed.”
The camraderie between competitors was evident leading up to the contest: light conversation, jokes about preparation, everyone was getting along.
Then the horn sounded to begin the contest, and suddenly the room transformed into a war zone. Cheers from family members mixed with the audible crunch of the chips as the sprint began to crown a chip-eating champion.
When the timer hit zero and the crumbs stopped flying, everyone waited anxiously as Martino began weighing people’s bags to see how many ounces of potato chips they put down.
After careful measurement, a clear winner was crowned: Harveys Lake resident Tristan Fry, who consumed 13.34 ounces of chips in five minutes to take home the trophy.
“I feel phenomenal, I’ve been training for this since August,” said Fry, who was one of the few competitors who were able to eat their way into a second bag of chips. “I knew I could do it.”
Fry said that he stuck with the BBQ chips because the flavor didn’t burn his mouth as much as the plain chips.
In total, almost seven pounds of potato chips were consumed on Saturday, and the consensus was clear among the eaters: it was well worth the potential stomachache.
Mark Purcell may not have won the contest, but he did win bragging rights: he out-ate his friend David LaPlant, and will be able to hold that over him all the way back to their native Harrisburg.
“Hey, we had fun, and I smoked David,” he said. “We’ll be back next year, definitely.”
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