European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The one Man crusade for up Phil Nelson the founder and owner of Nelson s old fashion potato chips inspects chips As they come off the conveyor in his Small factory at Little Rock Ark. By Robert Carey United press International Here Aren t Many citizens Labouring in the daily flow of Commerce whose passionate concern is the restoration of the potato  Phil Nelson is such a Man. His Fervour May reshape the  make the very Best potato Chip in the world he says. My goal is to get them into All the stores. You might say i am a be Man  the product is Nelson s old fashion potato  Many unless you live within 50 Miles of Little Rock Ark., will have heard of them. Chances Are one Day you  lies the tale wherein we find the free enter prise system is not dead nor is Horatio Alger. Nor i Pluck nor Elbow grease nor grit nor lots of other old fashioned Virtues bemoaned by some As Only memories of the american  sir you la find them All right there in Phil Nelson and his love affair with the heretofore a romanced potato  fashion potato Chip Nelson is Quick to Correct. Because i m an old fashioned  Phil Nelson will Tell you with straight in the Eye sincerity that in his Case the product always the product comes before the Buck. He is a self con fessed artist of the creation of the potato Chip. Not that he is Adverse to making a Dollar. Far from  plans to make a lot. I m going to be a millionaire All right but it s just going to take me a Little  s so different about Nelson s old fashion potato chips Why has a mini cult grown up around them to begin Nelson puts Back in a step used when potato chips were originally made in Small local plants 40 and50 years ago Kettle cooking. Kettle cooking disappeared when potato chips began to be mass produced because to Kettle Cook potato chips it was necessary to have a Man standing there stirring the potato chips in the  the chips would stick together. The Man stirring with the Rake because that s what he uses an actual Garden Rake or something similar is also the Cook. Just like anyone in a Kitchen does when cooking French Fried potatoes he decides when they Are done and empties them from the  eliminate this risky and time consuming step Large manufacturers of potato chips Wash and rehash the sliced potatoes before cooking. This washes out Large amounts of starch and by doing that keeps the potatoes from sticking together while being , they could standardize a quicker and smoother Means of making potato chips and also eliminate one of the More uncomfortable jobs around hand cooking chips in a sweaty room where temperatures linger around 100."however," Nelson said they also eliminated most of the potato taste and much of the nutrient  you believe it the Guy cooking them by hand makes the difference. He watches the color of the chips the size of the bubbles. It s an Art and that s Why the thing died. It became science and less Art As any Dummy can make an automated potato  what Nelson has done is recapture the original flavor of potato chips. No preservatives Here either just Pota toes cottonseed Oil and  take an older person and give her a bag of my potato chips and her eyes will Light up and Shell say that s the Way potato chips used to taste " Nelson  was in fact / the Little old ladies who saved his potato Chip adventure in the  was Only about four years ago when Nelson then an on the Ris e Young executive for the Continental can co.,was looking for a greater glory than a $50,000 Home in the suburbs of new Philadelphia Ohio and a life of corporate Comfort. He found it in an unlikely place a neighbourhood tavern. Every time a Guy would come in he d order a Bee Rand a bag of Correll s potato chips Nelson recalled. I d never heard of Correll s and never liked potato chips. Too Salty. They did t taste like  but curiosity piqued one late afternoon he ordered Abag of Correll s. Wow thought Nelson they sure did t taste like potato chips. At least none that he d Ever  found out there was an old Guy about 70, who made them in his garage Nelson said. He d been doing it for50 years and delivering them  Nelson became infatuated with the idea of saving an endangered species the old fashion potato Chip. For the next two years while he worked for Continental can he researched the potato Chip Industry visiting 20 potato Chip plants asking questions studying meth ods. Nelson who holds a Bachelor s degree in mechanical Friday september 22, 19/8 Doil Magazine by ski engineering and a master s in business administration found there was not a single potato Chip Plant South of the Mason Dixon  years ago there were dozens of Small potato Chip plants All across the South he said. And by then not a  two years ago at age 29, Nelson quit his Job sold his Home and with $6,000 in savings started his potato Chip company in a 600-Square-foot building in Little Rock. Hews its president and Only employee. I told my wife you re not going to see me for three months he said. I took a cot out there. If something broke Down i got on my overalls and fixed  sliced the potatoes cooked them hand salted and packaged them and drove the truck that delivered  badgered Small grocery outlets pizzerias and neigh boyhood bars to Stock  one problem they did t sell. In the perishable foods business the wholesaler usually has to agree to buy Back from the retailer any foods that do not sell in a specified time. One of his first big customers Harry s supermarket called and told him to come get his , the Man said they re not moving Nelson re members. Of i said and told him i d be out and Pic them up. Then i went outside the store and started giving them away in the parking lot to Little old  d go up and i d say look a am i be just made the Best potato Chip there is. I be worked very hard and every cent i have i be spent in making these potato chips. Won t you please try them this one woman nicely dressed said Sonny if you be worked that hard let me buy a bag and i said no a am you take pm and if you like pm come Back next time and buy a bag and Tell your friends " the next Load of Nelson s potato chips sold off the shelf at Harry s and other places too. The word got around there s a woman in Texarkana who every time she drives her car to Little Rock fills the trunk with Nelson s potato  Little Rock Mother ships a Case of Nelson s every month to her daughter who is a student at  Chicago manufacturer happened to buy a bag of Nel son s while passing through tried them passed the word and now a distributor makes a special trip to Little Rock to pick up Nelson s and deliver them to selected outlets i South Chicago. He thinks some Day it will be Worth his  does Nelson. His product is similar to the now famous Maui Kitch n Cook a potato chips of  while hawaiian owner Dewey Kobayashi says he has All the business he wants and has spurned offers to expand Nelson feels he is about ready to go big time. But he says they have to do it my  there lube no shortcuts in any expansion of Nelsons he vows. In two years Well be in Dallas in 10 in Philadelphia Nelson says. And Chicago Memphis St. Louis. I expect to retire by the time i m 50 and my wife and i can do some travelling in a camper. Let the kids two boys and a girl run  at this Point however the big names in american potato chips Are not yet outwardly quivering frito Lay inc., for instance the world s largest manufacturer of potato chips. Our sales people have heard of him said John Mccarty vice president for Public relations of frito Lay from the company s Home offices in Dallas. Did he fee that Nelson might change the Industry the Point is when you do it that Way Nelsons you volume has to be limited greatly limited he said. Ice Cream used to be hand cranked then you went to electric mixers. It seems to me there could be More automation to it.". Back in Little Rock Phil Nelson who a year ago abandoned the 600-foot building for a 4,000-Square-foot one is presently expanding to 9,000 Square  make a Little Money i put it Back in he says. In 1976, his first year of business he grossed $75,000 in1977 it was $180,000. This year he expects to hit $500,000. His production has gone from 1,200 eight ounce bags per Day retailing at 89 cents apiece to 32,000 per week. He has eight full time  takes exception to the limited production idea about his method. On the mathematics of being a possible old fashion potato Chip Baron he says if you can gear up to running 800 pounds of potatoes an hour off four machines a Guy can make a million dollars a  Back in Dallas John Mccarty thought some More. He just might make it Mccarty said. You can never Tell. Our founder started making riots in his Kitchen in san Antonio then moved out into his garage and then got a Small  the stars and stripes Page 13