Actually, Lay’s Kettle Cooked Chips are the way to go. Even more expensive than the regular kind, but America’s Test Kitchen deemed them to be Top Chip.
I have no idea what you’re getting at here.
I’m dubious about your argument. It’s not impossible. But you seem to think that economies of scale in manufacturing, etc. will be sufficient to cover the cost of the marketing and advertising campaign. That doesn’t sound likely. (What could happen is that higher volume and margin boost profits.)
For Potato Chips, we have a natural experiment: compare store brand potato chips to ones with a national advertising campaign. Consumer Reports judges Lays Potato Chips and Walmart Great Value Chips to be of… equal tastiness. Cite (sub req). Walmart chips are about half the price of Lay’s: 15 cents per serving vs 29 cents per serving, as of 2 years ago. Advertising, branding and maybe marginally higher profits don’t come cheap.
A 10.5 ounce bag of Lays potato chips is $3.00 at Kroger around here. It does say $4.29 on the bag though.
Because people will pay for them?
We also pay disgusting amounts of money for water in bottles, and for sodas, considering the cost of ingredients.
How popular are the Better Made brand of snacks in Michigan? Are they specialty or have about as much store shelf space as the products from Frito-Lay’s semi-monopoly?
That’s one thing I’ve noticed in the last 25 years: The disappearance of popular regional chip brands from grocery store shelves. On the West Coast, Frito-Lay used to compete with Nalley’s, Clover Club, Laura Scudders, Granny Goose, Blue Bell, and the private label store brands. Now, you just have the Frito-Lay snacks, a few specialty brands (e.g, in the Pacfic Northwest, there’s Tim’s Cascade Chips), and private label.
Thank you!
Seriously, unless I’m dipping the chip in something, I want it to be so light and crispy it fall apart in my mouth. I don’t want to risk chipping a tooth on chips that are harder than some rocks!
I like them that way too but I also like them to be that way before the bag is opened.
And if Lay’s jumped on the bandwagon by producing their own kettle chips, then a lot of people agree with me.
The high prices are good for me, because they prevent me from buying the unhealthy snack.
If a big bag was 50 cents I’d be in big trouble. And I bet they would still make money at 50 cents.
Well, why don’t you just buy a couple of potatoes and a bit of oil and salt and snack on that. Think of the money you’d save!
You seem to be totally ignoring the time, equipment, and expertise that goes into preparing and packaging potato chips. Those taters don’t just fall into slices and crisp up all by themselves. Heck, the materials to make a violin probably cost a few bucks, but it’s hard to make much music from a hunk of wood and a glob of nylon. (This is what Labrador Deceiver was alluding to, by the way.)
I got a bag at Walmart for $2.68. The memory of all you lovely people in this thread was free. 
They’re the freshest you can buy, here in Oregon. They’re made just down the road. Lays come pre-staled and pre-smashed. I used to like Tim’s Cascade, but Kettle has them beat. I also used to really like Hawaiian Kettle Chips, but can’t find them anymore.
Tim’s Cascade can be good, because they aren’t as hard as most kettle chips. And they have some really nice flavors. I remember an Alder BBQ in the past, and the dill pickle flavor is outstanding.
I have been buying walmart’s brand of chips. I am not a connoisseur, but these chips appear to be premium. Whole, big, unbroken chips to the bottom of the bag. No crumbs, no burnt chips, no green ones. :eek: I don’t know of they’re knockoffs of Lay’s or some other brand but they are not seconds by any means.
Same with their version of Sunchips, which I do like. Wholegrain chippy yumminess in whole chip form.
The reason I like Lays, and Herr, and Utz, are their* flavors*. They have more than just plain, bbq and sour cream and onion. Also, the Walmart version of Lays ‘hot’ potato chips is rpetty good!
The kettle chips buy have jalapeno, oil/vinegar, salt/vinegar, spicy thai, and more.
That’s the kind I buy, we use coupons to buy them, and they rule.
There are a vast number if reasons why store brands are less expensive. The manufacturer may sell it to the stores at a cheaper price, QC may be lax, inferior ingredients, etc. Primarily, they are cheaper because people aren’t going to pay more for them. The stores can capitalize on all those people who are looking to save a buck on a bag of chips.
Economy of scale means that a product becomes less expensive to produce as production increases. That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about increased costs (advertising) being absorbed and paid for by increased sales.