Minding Your Business
C.H.i.P.s.
Looking for an alternative to life in the fast lane? Try Route 11 — Route 11 Potato Chips, that is.

Hand-made Route 11 chips are hardly fast-food. Making them requires lots of labor intensive activity, according to Route 11 founder Sarah Cohen of Middletown. Rather than using continuous fryers like the big boys such as Frito-Lay do, Cohen’s company has only 15 workers who painstakingly cut and fry each chip. The desired result, says Cohen, is a "chip with character and crunch that would burst forth with potato flavor, a chip that could stand proudly apart from the average potato chip."

The idea for custom-making chips came to Cohen in 1992 after market research indicated that people didn’t want handful after handful of mass-produced salty snacks. So, the company opened in an old feed store and started production.

Since then, it has developed a wide range of flavors, including Tabard Farm Yukon Gold, dill pickle, salt ‘n’ vinegar, Chesapeake crab, sour cream ‘n’ chive, barbecue and the peculiarly named Death Rain chip, which is jalapeno-flavored, and one that Cohen warns is "HOT!" Although Route 11 sells more of its regular flavored chips than any other, it’s best known for mixed vegetable chips and sweet potato chips.

You could call Route 11’s financial performance "HOT!" as well. In the past year, it broke $1 million in sales, and according to Virginia Business’ "Fantastic 50" list (see Page F5). Route 11’s revenue growth over four years was a spicy 43 percent. The chips are sold in 16 states and in more than 150 retail stores in Virginia. They likewise are pricier than your usual bag of Lay’s. Depending on the location, a two-ounce snack pack costs from 99 cents to $1.29 while a six-ounce bag sells for $1.79 to $3.29.

With its products now available through its Web site (www.rt11.com), Route 11 hopes it can expand. "We are small, so there is plenty of room to grow," Cohen says.

Interested chip connoisseurs who are not content with the virtual tour of Route 11 available on the Web page can visit the factory on Route 11 near Winchester. The factory is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Chips samples are, of course, available.

— Lara Cahill