Stephen Chahanovitch is Frito-Lay’s go-to expert on all things potato.
Between 900,000 and one million pounds of raw potatoes a day get processed in the company’s Dayville processing plant. That number requires Chahanovitch, a manufacturing scheduler, to make decisions hour by hour, day by day.
The 513,000 square foot facility makes potato chips, corn chips and popcorn snacks on seven production lines. The potatoes that are turned into chips come primarily from farms in North Carolina, Delaware, and Maine.
Those potatoes are proprietary ones, grown from seed stock developed by Frito Lay food scientists. They are drier and grainier than the Russets, Yukon Golds and Red potatoes found in grocery stores.
But the produce from those fields can vary. One field may have gotten more rain than another and the water content is high. The higher the water content, the thicker the slices required. Some potatoes may have thicker skins so the machines that peel them have to be adjusted. And because of the sheer number of potatoes processed, the peeling and monitoring of the water and solid content is constant.
Chahanovitch has been with the company for 37 years. He’s seen plenty of changes in that time. Manufacturing has become more automated. Efficiencies have been put into place. It’s all in keeping with the country’s insatiable appetite for the salty, crunchy snack.
Consider the numbers from Northern Plains Potato Growers. The average American eats four pounds of chips annually. Last year 272 million Americans spent $7.1 billion on chips.
The number of potatoes needed to feed the nation’s appetite is staggering. It takes 100 pounds of potatoes to equal 27 pounds of chips.
Trucks rumble into the Dayville plant with North Carolina potatoes for most of June. From July to the end of August those trucks are bringing potatoes from fields in Delaware. In early September transport of potatoes shifts from Delaware to Maine, where Frito-Lay’s primary suppliers are located. Those potatoes are harvested for transportation and for storage.
The stored potatoes are “put to sleep” in facilities where temperature, humidity, and oxygen levels are monitored and controlled.
“Those potatoes stay as fresh as when they were picked,” Chahanovitch said.
A work force of 800 employees working 24/7 makes 685 million bags of snacks annually. Those snacks are delivered to markets in New England and New York. It wouldn’t be possible without the technological and manufacturing improvements made over the years.
It used to be a quality control person would monitor potato flow picking out green potatoes going into processing or brown chips coming out. Not anymore. Everything is automated.
Chahanovitch prefers salt and vinegar chips above all others. His wife, Tina, goes for the Ruffles. Who wins at the grocery store?
“We usually get what our sons want,” he said with a laugh.
