These potato chips are made entirely from rejected “ugly” spuds, and we seriously love that it’s combating food waste

These potato chips are made entirely from rejected “ugly” spuds, and we seriously love that it’s combating food waste

Pennsylvania snack manufacturer Dieffenbach’s Potato Chips has a new product that is impacting local farmers and food waste. Uglies, a line of potato chips made with “ugly” rejected potatoes, was announced last October at a manufacturer’s convention in Chicago. It’s making waves on social media right now, thanks to hungry tasters at Natural Products Expo West, a trade show that features the newest natural, organic, and healthy products.

These less-than-loved potatoes take on a new life with snazzy packaging that touts each bag as being “crafted from rejected potatoes with minor imperfections.” The chips are available in three flavors, Original Sea Salt, Mesquite BBQ, and Salt & Vinegar.

So why are the potatoes behind Uglies considered rejects? Well, it’s not because they’re spoiled or unsafe by any means. The company buys up cheaper spuds that have been passed over by farmers and food manufacturers for mild cosmetic flaws. They also take the potatoes of irregular size that most companies aren’t equipped to process.

With the U.S. wasting food at an astounding rate of 40 percent of the food supply, it’s up to companies and consumers to make choices that reduce this sizable problem. The trend of embracing “ugly” food has cropped up in the last few years as an effort to curb the waste of these millions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Not alone in their attempts to help the national food system other companies, like Perfectly Imperfect Produce, are making conscious choices to lessen food waste.

While currently only available in Pennsylvania stores, you can also order all flavors of Uglies online. We hope that Uglies will become a nation-wide brand soon because we’d really love to show the love to these uglies, too.

This article originally appeared in Cooking Light.

Related Links

There’s a new chip in town
4 great homemade potato chips
Michelle Obama’s White House kitchen garden preserved with $2.5 million grant