At 83, this local man makes and sells soap and lotion from Idaho potatoes
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IDAHO FALLS
Local business makes soap, lotion and lip balm from Idaho potatoes
IDAHO FALLS – Kay Walker spent his childhood picking potatoes in the field so he and his family had something to live on. Today, at age 83, he’s the owner of a business that makes soap, lotion and lip balm from Idaho potatoes.
Potato Soap and Gifts of Idaho launched in 2021. His signature soap, which looks like a potato, along with other products, are sold in gift boxes inside Broulim’s, Rocknak’s Hardware and at least 100 other mom-and-pop stores throughout the state. He also sells products online.
In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Walker says he started this business out of necessity. A series of unfortunate circumstances dried up his life savings and forced him to start over. He ended up working as a national sales manager for Titan Fuel Tanks in Idaho Falls.
“For 12 years, I hit the road and we went from $300 or $400,000 in annual sales to about $8 million,” Walker says.
He was on Prince Edward Island in 2019 selling Titan Fuel Tanks, and saw a familiar sight: potatoes.
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“Prince Edward Island is to Canada what Idaho is to the USA — it’s the potato center (of the nation),” says Walker.
During his trip, he stopped at a gift shop and bought some squares of potato soap and vials of potato lotion. He stopped at the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot on his way back to show Tish Dahmen, the museum’s executive director, what he’d found.
Walker learned that the museum used to sell a similar product in its gift shop, but the man who made it had died.
“I said, ‘Well, if I ever do it, my soap will have to look like a potato,'” Walker recalls saying at the time.
The following year, Walker’s statement would prove prophetic. The inability to travel at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant Walker could no longer work. Titan Fuel Tanks retired him at age 78.
After six months, boredom drove him to find something to do. He remembered the conversation he’d had at the Idaho Potato Museum and went to work creating a mold for what became his own brand of soap.
Within five months, he not only perfected the mold, he also added lotion and lip balm to his product line.
Broulim’s became one of his first clients when Dick Broulim, with whom Walker has associated before, caught wind of his products.
Although he’s grateful for the success of his business, making soap out of potatoes is not what Walker thought he’d be doing at this age.
It’s a full circle moment for him as he recalls his experiences in the potato fields as a young boy picking spuds to make ends meet.
‘I enjoyed potato harvest’
He was 4 years old when his family started doing it. By age 8, he was picking potatoes on his own with a partner.
“My first check after two weeks at 10 hours a day … was $37.51,” says Walker. “We were averaging 89 sacks a day and that (check) seemed like a lot of money to me.”
He remembers buying a new suit and a winter coat with that money.
The tradition continued through high school. As a senior, he averaged 580 sacks a day and his paycheck was around $253.
“That was a pretty good chunk of money in 1960,” says Walker. “I enjoyed potato harvest.”
Those experiences taught him the value of money and hard work, two skills that have helped him throughout his life.
When most people his age are retired, he’s glad that the things he learned in his youth are bringing him good fortune late in life.
A French Fry-flavored lip balm is Walker’s latest product. So far, it has mixed reviews, but he’s hoping to refine it and land a sales contract at the next Idaho Potato Commission convention in February.
When it comes to slowing down, Walker says “it all depends on these folks.”
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