While most Americans consider all potato chips to be essentially the same, with only the flavor distinguishing the taste, those of us who live in Pennsylvania know better.
Nowhere is the art of crafting the perfect potato chip more apparent than in York, the “Factory Tour Capital of the World“. And while there are many different snack food companies in the area, my personal favorite is Martin’s Potato Chips.
Martin’s was started in 1941 by Fairy Martin. The story goes that she grew tired of her son always buying chips from the Utz family stand at the local market and decided that she could make better potato chips. So she did, and the rest is history.
From their humble beginnings in the Martin family kitchen, Martin’s Potato Chips has grown into a huge operation, producing over 1 million bags of potato chips and popcorn each month. Martin’s Potato Chips have grown so popular, that the last three Presidents have had them served on Air Force One.
Still family owned (though not by the Martin’s), Martin’s Potato Chips operates out of their factory in Thomasville, which is located in York County, just outside of York.
The Martin’s Potato Chip Factory Tour starts from the small on-site shop. Donning a hairnet to cover both my head and the scruff that I like to call a beard, I joined a group of seven other visitors and headed out for our tour of the factory.
Our first stop was the potato unloading zone beside the factory. Three delivery trucks arrive at the factory every day, each carrying 50,000 pounds of fresh potatoes. To quickly remove the potatoes, the entire truck is lifted off the ground and tilted backward, slowly depositing the potatoes into the waiting conveyor belt that takes them into the factory.
Following the potatoes, we entered the factory. Unlike many factory tours in the York area, the Martin’s Potato Chip Factory Tour actually lets you walk on the factory floor, albeit behind a roped off section to the side. Nevertheless, this allows you to get a close-up view of the potato chip cooking process.
Once the potatoes are inside the factory, their journey to becoming a potato chip starts. Potatoes start off in the peeling machine. Instead of peeling the skin though, the skin is sanded off; a process that ensures that as little of the potato is lost to peeling as possible.
Once peeled, potatoes are sliced, fried, cooled, and salted before being packaged. While I was expecting some sort of magical step in between, I was surprised to discover that even in a factory full of automated robots, the basic process of making a potato chip really hasn’t changed that much over the last 70 years.
The same could also be said for the popcorn that they manufacture on site. Popped in large air poppers, the process still requires an operator to measure out corn kernels, salt, and flavoring. He then dumps the bucket into the popper, waiting for a few minutes until the popcorn comes pouring out onto the conveyor belt, ready to be cooled and packaged.
The highlight of the tour though was the free samples. While many food factory tours give you free samples, very few take them right off the production line. The truth of the matter is that you haven’t lived until you’ve had straight from the production line potato chips.
Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the still warm chips have a taste that can’t be preserved on grocery store shelves, no matter how fresh they are.
In my opinion, the Martin’s Potato Chip Factory Tour is a great activity for both young and old. I really enjoyed that the tour gave you the opportunity to view the cooking process from the floor, than from behind glass like many factory tours in the York area.
Unfortunately, being on the factory floor made it hard to hear the tour guide at times due to the loud noise of the machinery. That being said, the tour was still a great way to learn about the process of making potato chips, and I would definitely recommend it.
Taking the Martin’s Potato Chip Factory Tour
The Martin’s Potato Chip Factory Tour is conducted at their Thomasville factory just outside of York. Tours are conducted on Tuesdays only at 9am, 10am, and 11am.
Reservations are required, and can be made by calling 1-800-272-4477.
It’s worth combining your trip to Martin’s with a visit to the Snyder’s of Hanover and Utz Potato Chip factories in nearby Hanover. Or take a short drive further to the Herr’s Potato Chips factory.
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The warm potato chips off the line were one of the highlights of the whole tour. I’ve never had a fresh chip before then, and the next time I had one out of the bag, it was a bit of a disappointment.
Does your plant process anything with peanuts or tree nuts? Our son and his wife and 5 children are coming to York the last week of May and we are trying to find something fun to do. Taking a tour of Martin’s potato chips might fill the bill but one of the children has a peanut and tree nut allergy.
Thank you,
Michele Larson
I honestly have no idea. You should call them to ask as they will be able to tell you for sure.
would be nice to have one other tour day…especially in the summer for Tuesdays only is very limiting
I lived on top of the hill behind Martin’s Chips when I was a young girl. In 1954 or thereabouts, I would clean cans at the factory and take home a bag of warm chips right off the conveyor belt. When my children were young and visiting Grandma and Grandpa in the mid 70’s , they would walk down , from the hill, to the Martin’s factory and get bags of chips , also warm from the conveyor belt as well as cans of chips. We never had to go to market to get the best chips in town. The Martin’s Chip and the original Martin’s family ; Fairy, Harry, and their children , Doris, Ruth, Verne and Sharon were friends and friendly faces along Grant Road. Great memories ….