A P.E.I. snack company specializing in handcrafted potato chips and gourmet popcorn is busy trying to keep up with demand.
Lucky Fox Snack Company just celebrated its first birthday at its factory store at 401 Capital Drive in Charlottetown, also known as the North River Factory Shops on the causeway.
Its products are now sold in 60 locations across the province.
“We are very proud of our first year’s success,’’ said co-owner Stephen Ramsay. “We learned a lot and want to thank Islanders for their support of our local product. I’m also very excited to see people’s response to our new flavours that we are now sampling at the factory.’’
All potatoes are grown at the Keenan family farm in Rollo Bay. They also use non-GMO canola oil grown by a local farm and expeller, pressed at Nature Crops in Kensington.
And with the help of some of the province’s culinary talent, they have created unique flavours.
“The basic idea is that there are so many potatoes on P.E.I., but nobody was really making artisan-style potato chips here,’’ said John Ellis, operations manager at the Charlottetown factory store. “A lot of this is hands-on. There is automation here but a lot of it is our chefs and cooks and helpers.’’
Jessica Yorston, operation and sales co-ordinator for Lucky Fox, said they don’t use preservatives and use Island potatoes in the Island popcorn mix.
“Our seasonings come from Quebec, which is the only thing we have specially made,’’ Yorston said.
The snack food business is the brainchild of Ramsay, Tyson MacInnis and business development manager Kent Thompson.
Over the past year, the company has successfully launched three retail products that have been sold across Canada, won a Foodies Pick award from Foodie Pages Canada for its Island Mix and developed new flavours that are now available at the factory store.
Every business also needs a name, and the owners thought the red fox, well known to Islanders, was a natural choice.
Yorston said locating the factory store on the North River causeway also seemed to be a natural fit.
“I think it’s because the causeway has been turning into a foodie location. You can watch Anne’s Chocolates make their chocolates, Cow’s Creamery make their product and come here and watch ours being made. Boom Burger also produces a really good Island-made product so (the owners) wanted to go somewhere where it was very Island-oriented,’’ Yorston said.
Lucky Fox employs four people on the production side, three in retail as well as Ellis and Yorston.
Ellis predicts more growth is ahead.
“Business is booming. People love to support local. People see this as an Island company growing.’’
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