The Pros and Conn’s of the Popular Potato Chip
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 by Brittany Carpenter, Zane State College Student
Have you ever picked up a bag of chips to snack on with the intention of eating just a few and ended up eating at least half the bag? It must have been Conn’s. Conn’s is one of the top-selling brands of potato chips in the world. Conn’s manufacturing location in Zanesville provides tours, offers low prices on their chips, presents great customer service, and fills tins per request with hot and fresh chips right out of the fryer and off the conveyor.
If you have ever had the desire to witness firsthand how Conn’s chips are made, Zanesville’s manufacturing plant is just the place to visit. They offer tours to the public at no cost; you simply have to schedule ahead of time. The tours are offered Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The aroma of the potatoes as soon as you walk in the front door of the 100,000-square-foot facility is really strong, but that lets you know they’re hard at work. Six steps are involved in the process of making Conn’s: cleaning the potatoes, peeling the potatoes, slicing the potatoes, frying the potatoes, salting the chips, and bagging the chips. It may sound simple, but it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. One step not included above was manually cutting potatoes if they’re too big for the slicer. It can require anywhere from one to five cuts to get the potato to the proper size for the equipment. If the slicer gets jammed, production would be slowed down by quite a large margin. Conn’s can’t afford to lose out on production, considering they produce 55,000 pounds of potato chips every week. Another step not included above is picking out the bad chips. After they have been salted, the chips run on a conveyor belt as someone picks out the ones that aren’t good enough to be bagged. Whether they’re overdone and crispy or underdone and flimsy, they’re thrown away to allow only the best Conn’s chips to be consumed by customers. “The best chips taste like Conn’s,” as they say.
Not only are they meant to be the best, they’re offered at a low price. For example, you can purchase twenty-four 1.25 oz. bags for less than $10. That’s cheaper than if you bought them separately in the store, so Conn’s is giving you quite the deal. If I had had money with me at the time, I would have definitely bought a tin. I was satisfied with everything about the experience. They make sure customers receive both quality and quantity with each purchase and experience. They also make sure customers leave satisfied with a smile every time. Conn’s offers a variety of flavors. They offer salt and vinegar, barbeque, and sour cream and onion. They also offer regular and wavy, which is their best-seller. The wavy chips act as dippers, so consumers love them for parties. I personally love the salt and vinegar because the mix of flavors is perfect in my mouth. However, the regular chips are to die for because of the saltiness and the crunch fresh from the fryer. After everything I witnessed on the tour, the quality of the chips seems to be worth more than the price you typically see on the shelves.
Conn’s sees a lot of sales because of their interest in customer satisfaction and positive experience. While waiting in line for my tour, there were two customers ahead of me. They were both there to buy chips. The lady at the desk was more than willing to get whatever they wanted and was back in a matter of seconds. Also, the tour guide was willing to talk to me over the phone later on if I needed to ask any questions. The staff are all very friendly, and you can tell the staff care about their customers. I haven’t witnessed or experienced such friendly staff in quite a long time before visiting Conn’s. I can definitely see myself visiting again and becoming a customer of Conn’s—and I think you should, too.
The majority of Conn’s customers are there because they fill tins per request with hot and fresh chips right out of the fryer and off of the conveyor. You can buy a tin full of chips for only $10 and later refill it for only $5 or $6 depending on whether you want regular or wavy chips. There’s no better deal. On Mondays, they typically provide regular chips. On Tuesdays, they typically provide wavy chips. During the tour, my guide allowed me to taste a few chips straight from the conveyor. She asked me if I wanted to try a few, and I couldn’t resist because the smell was overwhelming. I sure wish I could’ve gotten the ones she wasted! I’m sure I’ll become a regular customer of filling a tin for regular chips. They’re the best when they’re hot and fresh.
Conn’s manufacturing location in Zanesville provides tours, offers low prices on their chips, presents great customer service, and fills tins per request with hot, fresh chips right out of the fryer and off the conveyor. Conn’s is hands-down one of the best-selling chips in the world, and it’s clear to see why due to their customer service and the pure quality of their products. It’s very unique to Zanesville and definitely worth visiting. Conn’s would be delighted to have you as their next customer!