History of Martin’s Potato Chips
1941
Martin’s Potato Chips is located in south central Pennsylvania which is considered by many to be the snack food capital of the world. From the farm kitchen of Harry and Fairy Martin, back in 1941, a unique potato chip found its way into the hearts and homes of York County. Their business soon outgrew the kitchen. The Martin’s built a small factory and expanded their distribution from delivering fresh daily to market stands, to also selling to mom and pop grocery stores.
1964
Harry Martin installed his first automated potato chip fryer and automatic bagging machine. Charlie Lebo (pictured) was Mr. Martin’s first employee.
1971 Mr. Martin and Mr. Potter
In 1971 the business was sold to Ken and Sandy Potter with the Martin family remaining as employees. Ken Potter had learned the potato chips business by working at El-Ge Potato Chip Company for 16 years. One route truck handled all deliveries. Bar-B-Que Waffle chips were the #1 selling item.
1974
In 1974 the kettle cook’d potato chip was introduced. They are handmade, one batch at a time, the old fashioned way. This bag design was the first to feature our trademark kettle logo. By the 1980s, kettle cook’d potato chips were the local favorite and the sales were growing rapidly.
1979
The factory was added onto in 1979 and 1984 to keep up with the growth.
1985
By 1985, we had over 30 trucks delivering Martin’s Chips in York and the surrounding counties.
1990
By 1990 our growth had exceeded our factory’s capacity. A new 40,000 square foot factory was constructed on the same property. The old factory was re-purposed for office space, box storage and vehicle maintenance.
1994
In 1994 we added popcorn production to our facility. Since then, our butter popcorn has become the most popular ready to eat butter popcorn in central Pennsylvania.
2001
In 2001, a 20,000 square foot addition was added to the warehouse to accommodate the sales growth.
2004
Mr. Potter retired in March of 2004 after 50 years in the potato chip business. Today, elder son, Ken Jr. is President & CEO and youngest son David is Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
2011
In 2011, another 18,000 square foot building extension was added. This space was used for both production supplies and for distribution.
2018
In 2018 we changed our official name from Martin’s Potato Chips to Martin’s Snack’s to better reflect the broad range of snack foods that we make and distribute.
2019
Today our distribution network stretches from New York to North Carolina. In addition to the potato chips and popcorn, our trucks distribute many other fine snack foods such as cheese curls, party mix, meat snacks, tortilla chips, and pretzels.
