MOUNT JACKSON, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — You may be familiar with seeing Route 11 potato chips at the grocery store or sandwich shop, but you can actually visit the factory where the magic happens in Mount Jackson, Virginia.
“We have actually been making potato chips for 32 years, but we have been in this building in Mount Jackson for 16 years since 2008,” founder and owner for Route 11, Sarah Cohen said.
Cohen started Route 11 with a business partner over three decades ago, and she says the journey wasn’t exactly linear.
“It wasn’t a dream, it was more of an accident. I am truly a pretzel person, but have become a potato chip person through this journey of making the chips,” Cohen said.
And now their factory is located right off Interstate 81 for people to come by and see how their chips are made from start to finish.
“Since Day One of making potato chips, we thought it only made sense to show people what we are doing since it is very rare to walk into a food processing facility anywhere in the country,” Cohen said.
And Cohen says they are continuing to grow and expand their flavors, but the classics remain the most popular.
“Not to sound boring, lightly salted is our most popular seller, it’s our No. 1 seller. But we have the most exciting flavor we have made, and we were the first ones to ever do a dill pickle-flavored potato chip. We also have sweet potato chips that have just come into season that we are famous for. We were also one of the first sweet potato producers. And for the holidays we are making a sweet potato with cinnamon and sugar,” Cohen said.
The factory is open Monday through Saturdays 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., but be sure call ahead to let them know they are cooking.
