No Fries — Cheeps!
Somewhat related to my previous post: Demand creates its own supply — or not:
West Virginia’s lone potato chip maker is scrapping its low-fat recipe after consumer reaction to the healthier creations resulted in a 6 percent drop in sales.Parkersburg-based Mister Bee, which hadn’t changed its recipe since it opened in 1951, launched its new chips in March. The chips are made using all cottonseed oil, which is free of artery-clogging trans fat.
But the new chip drew immediate reactions from customers who said if they wanted healthy, they wouldn’t be eating chips.
…
Since March, the company averaged 15 phone calls a day from consumers. … To restore peace, the company will revert to frying up batches of its chips in soybean oil and all the trans fat that comes with it.
I suppose the chips will soon be banned in Chicago — or perhaps everywhere — if the nanny-staters get their way.
In any case, there’s a reason why food companies prepare their products the way they do — because that’s how customers want them prepared. Forcing companies to make, and consumers to buy, products that do not actually satisfy consumer preferences is, obviously, not a logical way to make us “better off.” Go figure.
For Discussion: I can’t say that I’ve ever tried Mister Bee Potato Chips, with either cottonseed oil or soybean oil. Anyone care to write a review? I’m a Ruffles man.
POST SCRIPT: I wonder what fraction of my readers are old enough to know whence comes the expression “No Fries — Cheeps!”…
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Growing up in West Virginia, I ate my fair share of Mister Bee chips. I never bought them in a store, but they came with sandwiches in a fair number of lunch spots.
Regardless, the word that comes to mind when thinking of Mister Bee is "dry". They just didn't have that nice oily texture that potato chips ought to have.
I recognized the reference, but only from re-runs. Not quite that old (yet).
I moved from WV several years ago. Always preferred Mister Bee chips. When we visit, I always brought 10 or 15 bags of chips back with me. I have never found a chip I like as much. The new recipe is awful. My family in WV warned me and when I tried the new chips I was very disappointed. I did not buy any Mister Bee chips on last trip.