MOUNT JACKSON, Va. (WHSV) - Located right off on Interstate 81 in the small town of Mount Jackson, there is a factory tucked behind the town’s high school where one of the Shenandoah Valley’s most delicious snacks are made.
The place is where Route 11 Potato Chips are born. Named after the highway Route 11 that parallels Interstate 81 through the Shenandoah Valley, the potato chip company has been a staple in the community since founder and president Sarah Cohen made her first batch of potato chips in 1992.
Sarah was kind enough to give us a tour of Route 11 Potato Chips and give us a behind the scenes look at the process of what it takes to go from a raw potato to a bag of chips, which takes a lot less time than you would think.
“So we start with the peeling and then we cook the potato for about eight minutes, so they’re eight minutes of fry time and then a minute or two to get to the seasoning table, and then into the bag, so on a good day we can get from the peeler into the bag in about fourteen minutes,” said Cohen.
But even though Route 11 Potato Chips are produced in the Shenandoah Valley, you can find them on shelves beyond the valley as well.
“We’re really focused on the Mid-Atlantic and this area, Virginia, DC, Maryland, and then we actually ship our chips across the county to little delis and Mom and Pop shops, and breweries and wineries all over the U.S.”
While Route 11 Potato Chips do produce the popular flavors you normally associate with potato chips, they also offer a variety of unique flavors as well.
“Our number one seller is Lightly Salted and there’s sort of a tie between Dill Pickle and Barbeque now. We got Sour Cream N Chive, we got all the core flavors that your average chip company has, plus we got some unique flavors like our Mama Zuma’s Revenge If you’re into spicy, it’s a habanero barbeque, and then we also got Chesapeake Crab and we’re reusing the exact seasoning that the crabbers use on the Chesapeake. Every chipper has their recipe, so we have our recipe, we’re dedicated to using just expeller pressed sunflower oil, a lot of chip companies will use multiple oils, and we have come up with some flavors, we’ve tried to keep our flavors and our ingredients as clean as possible, so no preservatives, and yeah, we’re just trying to make a really good product.”
While Route 11 Potato Chips call Mount Jackson their home now, the potato chip company was originally founded in Middletown, a small town just north in Frederick County, before moving the production to Shenandoah County in 2008 to grow the business.
“So when we were in Middletown, we were actually in the town, we were the only industry in Frederick County that was not in an industrial park, so we were going to become a nuisance, even though everybody loved smelling the chips every day, there was no way to grow there, we just very hemmed in, so we started looking for a place. We really didn’t want to leave Middletown, bust the best site we could find was here in Shenandoah County in the town of Mount Jackson in the industrial park, and so we purchased ten acres and we built a plant that was specific to our process. It was a big move for us and we’ve made it this far, but it was a really good move.”
While being in the potato chip business was not always Sarah Cohen’s ambition, she has loved doing it since day one. One thing that has helped her love doing this for a living is being located in the Shenandoah Valley, where the community has helped the business thrive.
“When I started the business, I didn’t know the study, there was nothing telling me this would be the place to do it, it was all intuition, but this has turned out to be a magical place for a business like this because the location is great, we have so many of the local citizens here in this county and beyond in this whole region are big advocates for our brand and they’ve helped us kind of make it this far. It would be hard to start a business like this anywhere else.”
And unlike most factories, Route 11 Potato Chips is open to the public where you can come visit the gift shop and watch how the famous potato chips are made.
“It’s a fun business, we want people to come and watch the process, we’ve got fry viewing windows in our retail area here and it’s a neat process to see, you don’t get to see a product being made every day, and that’s something we take a lot of pride in is that we have full exposure, you can come here and see, you come to the source and see exactly what we’re doing and how we’re making the chips.”
So the next time you’re in the area and you’re looking to satisfy your salty craving, Route 11 Potato Chips is the place to be.
Copyright 2024 WHSV. All rights reserved.
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National Potato Chip Day: A Tour of Route 11 Potato Chips - WHSV
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