Small Town Spotlight: Fourth-generation family farm churning out flavorful potato chips
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ABERDEEN — For just over a year, a family farm in Aberdeen has been filling the shelves of local grocery stores and delis with Roots.
Ladd and Zoey Wahlen, a husband-wife duo, own Roots Potato Chips, operating their quickly growing company from a wing of a farm that has been the Wahlen family’s roots for generations.
Ladd, who told EastIdahoNews.com that before Roots was around it had been a while since Idaho potato chips had lined grocers’ shelves, said modestly that his company’s product “isn’t anything special.”
“But,” he added, “it’s an opportunity to represent Aberdeen a little bit.”
The Wahlens’ products, which proudly display a “Grown in Idaho” label on every bag, are available at 60 locations in eastern Idaho and more than 100 across the western United States. A complete and current list of locations can be found here.
A self-proclaimed “Aberdeen born and bred” farmer, Ladd spoke about his love for his community, which called him back after a trip to Rexburg and BYU-Idaho, where he met Zoey, a Boise native.
“Aberdeen’s a great place to live. It’s a small town with lots of friendly people. Almost everybody knows everybody,” he said. “There’s a community feel. In bigger areas, you might not be able to have that community response and support (that Aberdeen provides). In addition to that, we have lots of people that are willing to help.”
The love he has always had for the small eastern Idaho community, and grew with Zoey, is why the two decided to launch a company that could represent their town.
“Just get the name Aberdeen out a little bit more,” he said.
The plan in the near future is to spread the Aberdeen name even wider. As Ladd explained, the “hopes and dreams” of Roots Potato Chips is expand, and sell its products far and wide.
“We’ve gotten in with some bigger retailers that helps us expand our footprint a little bit,” he said.
Once the Wahlen, Roots and Aberdeen names are out there a bit more, Ladd is interested in processing some of the other products grown on the farm — like sugar beats, corn and wheat, along with the occasional “random niche stuff,” like quinoa.
For now though, he is happy to continue producing a high-quality, locally grown product, and use it to aid those around him. While moving their products to chain stores like Walmart fits the growth plan, the Wahlens fully understand and embrace their own roots and the success of their product at local grocers.
“A lot of times it’s give-and-take — the local producer is supported by the local, independent grocer, and the local, independent grocer is supported by the local consumer,” he said. “It’s just a cool circle to see, local people supporting local people.”
Speaking with EastIdahoNews.com around the time of its launch, Zoey spoke to the excitement surrounding the company during its infancy.
“Seeing people enjoy something we enjoy and have worked really hard on has been really rewarding, and really exciting,” she said.
One year in, Roots has added to its lists of both flavors and retailers — try the purple and red potatoes with sea salt.
Learn more about the company and its history at RootsChips.com or at its Facebook page.
Small Town Spotlight wants to shine a light on all the good going on in small-town Idaho. If you know of someone or something in one of Idaho’s many small towns that deserve to be featured on Small Town Spotlight, email Kalama@EastIdahoNews.com and include “spotlight” in the subject line.