Poore Brothers Brothers Don and Jay Poore had worked on potato chip packaging equipment and thought they would strike out on their own. While servicing packaging machines in Pennsylvania, Don and Jay had met a gentleman who knew a lot about making potato chips in small kettles "One Batch at a Time" and he helped them get started. By cutting their chips a little thicker and cooking them in kettles, their product had a serious crunch that no other chip had. In 1983, they started a small chip manufacturing operation outside of Houston with a brand called Groff's of Texas. They sold their Texas business after a few years and decided to move to the Valley of the Sun. In 1986 the brothers founded Poore Brothers in Goodyear, Arizona. They started with one kettle, one delivery truck, and one store that sold their chips, Mayfair, across from the Wigwam. They didn't have a marketing budget, so they relied on sampling and word of mouth advertisement.
04-02366 Donald W. Douglas and David R. Davis who ...
Mark Reynolds
Tortilla chipsIt wasn't long before the large grocery stores in the valley began to authorize sale of their products. It was also right around this time they had a couple of bold flavors that were real winners, Salt & Vinegar and Jalapeño. Soon, all of Arizona could buy their products. In order to serve all their Arizona customers they started a distribution company. Today Poore Brothers Distributing is the premier snack food distributor in the State of Arizona.
It was only a matter of time until the products found their way across the Arizona border into California and other states. Eventually Don and Jay licensed the brand and manufacturing process to companies in Minnesota and Tennessee. In the early 1990's, the snack food business began to change with the addition of low fat and baked snack...