Most potato chips are made out of state and not from Idaho’s famous spuds. Except these

It’s no secret Idaho is known for its potatoes, but when it comes to potato chips, most are grown somewhere else.

That’s something a Treasure Valley family decided to change.

Brothers Marc and Kyle Nehring put their heads together a few years ago and set out to create an authentic, savory potato chip made from real Idaho potatoes. Fast forward to present day, and their Teton Valley Brands’ “Real Potato Chips” can be found on store shelves across the Treasure Valley and in Hailey, Idaho Falls, and Jackson, Wyoming.

“Ours is a kettle-style chip,” Kyle Nehring said.

Marc Nehring added, “We also leave the skins on. It really is just focused on that potato flavor.”

The brothers are passionate about the quality of potatoes grown in Idaho, and choose an Idaho russet for their chips, which isn’t usually the case.

“That is the main point of what we’re trying to do, and a lot of consumers don’t realize this,” Marh Nehring said. “Your Idaho russet potato is very rarely if ever used in a potato-chip application. There’s a very different variety of potatoes used for chips, and the Idaho russet actually has so much more potato flavor in it.”

So they let the potato flavor shine through, keeping the seasoning process simple.

Varying by flavor, the packaging showcases a scenic image from Idaho’s backcountry, and consumers can see exactly where the potatoes from that particular bag were grown.

Although they’re the first family members to bring products to store shelves, the brothers’ roots in the potato industry run deep.

In the early 1900s, their great-grandfather farmed potatoes at the base of the Teton Mountains, serving as the inspiration behind the Teton Valley Brands name.

They still get some of their potatoes from eastern Idaho, but now their products are prepared and processed at their plant in Nampa, where their chips go from raw russet to package in just 15 minutes.

You can find their chips in specialty shops like Taters in downtown Boise and the Eastern Idaho Visitor Center, but the bulk of their bags end up on shelves at Treasure Valley Albertsons stores and the Boise Co-Op.

The Nehrings say they’ve only scratched the surface of what their new Nampa plant is capable of. They hope to expand operations with more flavors, more employees, and more distribution.

This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 4:00 AM.