Better Made Potato Chips Inc. is a true Michigan institution. Michigan's state motto is "Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice", which is Latin for "if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you." Personally, I think the state motto should be changed to "if you seek a pleasant potato chip, look about you", because Better Made potato chips excite your taste buds in ways other chips don't. No less of an authority than Rachel Ray praised the company's Salt & Vinegar chips as the best she had ever tasted.

The distinctive red on yellow crosshatched background on the bag of their Original brand potato chip might as well be the unofficial state flag of Michigan. It is a ubiquitous presence in supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations, and a cause of great excitement for children and adults alike. Visitors from Ohio and Indiana have been known to stock up on the chips before they leave, as the Better Made brand is currently only available in markets in Michigan, Toledo (Ohio), and Chicago. On the car ride home, other cars may see the smiling face of beautiful Miss Better Made as kids munch on the bags of chips, fending off the grubby hands of their parents, whose promise of "I just want a bite" frequently turns into a race between their children and themselves for the remaining potato chips.

Peter Cipriano and Cross Moceri founded Better Made in 1930, opening a factory in the industrial powerhouse known as Detroit, Michigan. My grandpa used to tell me about how, during the last days of the Great Depression, he and the rest of the neighborhood kids would go visit the Better Made factory to get a free bag of defective potato chips. Although the chips may have been burnt, misshapen, or crumbled, it was a treat (as money for snacks was hard to come by) that he would remember for the rest of his life, and that's a memory money can't buy. In those more quaint days, the potato chips were hand packed and the type of oil used to cook them varied according to availability and price.

Today, Better Made cooks their potato chips in only 100% cottonseed oil and the cooking and packaging processes are completely automated. The company brags that "Better Made potato chips use all natural resources and are untouched by human hands from the time the potatoes leave the farm until you bring the crunchy chips to your mouth." Bigger than ever, they sell tens of millions of dollars worth of such potato chips (as well as popcorn, pretzels, and other snack foods) a year. Common flavors of potato chips include Original, Barbecue, Wavy, Sour Cream & Onion, Hot, and Salt & Vinegar. There are over 15 flavors in all.

Recently, Better Made started selling Rainbow Chips, otherwise known as "dark chips" or Sarasota chips. Invented in 1864 by Chief Crum (believe it or not!), this early incarnation of the potato chip was made using potatoes high in sugars. When cooked, the sugars would caramelize, giving the chip "a sweet 'burnt' taste" and a darker color than we are accustomed to today. When improvements in technology and supply-side management made the mass production of the yellow potato chip we enjoy today possible, the dark chip quickly fell out of favor in the minds of all but a vocal few, who had acquired a deep appreciation for the dark chip's unique flavor. Better Made attempted to sell a facsimile of the dark chip in the 1930s using their burnt chips (sold as Rainbow Chips), but the demand simply wasn't high enough to justify the cost. However, as mentioned earlier, the Rainbow Chip is now back on the market, so you can taste this piece of history whenever you fancy.

March 14th is National Potato Chip Day. Next time around, why not make it Better Made Day and order some of their chips for the occasion?

Sources: http://bmchips.com/Rainbow-Potato-Chips.aspx, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Made_Potato_Chips_Inc., http://bmchips.com/Rainbow-Potato-Chips.aspx