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5SUMMER 2015 SPUDSMART.COM 1920s when the family farmed potatoes. Ryan and his brother Matthew now own the family farming business and theyre also partners in Covered Bridge Potato Chips. The potato chip company got its start when Ryan Albright now company president and CEO at only 34 years old formed a brokerage company in 2004 and found himself selling potatoes to others who went and turned them into potato chips. He wanted to do more than just sell potatoes to other chipmakers though and in 2006 Albright formed the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company. The first bag of Covered Bridge chips rolled off the line in January 2009. The vision behind the company was to make tasty kettle-cooked potato chips and create a unique brand that would capture consumer interest. Tying this concept with the Hartlands historic covered bridge seemed like a no-brainer. We realized there was a real opportunity with the covered bridge and all the tourists who come to see it every year Albright says. Around 100000 people and scores of tour buses come in the summer to see the bridge. That made a good starting point Albright thought. We knew we could try and capture that market to help in the branding and it worked he says noting that about 200 tour buses stop by the Covered Bridge chip factory each year. The bridge means more to the company than just a namesake though. Tourists are welcome to take a self- guided tour of the facility no appointment necessary. Theyre provided with interesting facts about potatoes potato chips and agriculture in New Brunswick while getting to see how the chips are made. At the end of the tour visitors receive a hot bag of chips fresh off the line and get their choice of 35 different flavour seasonings to sprinkle on their chips something thats hugely popular with tourists according to Alison Aiton travel media representative for Tourism New Brunswick. People seem to really like that part she says. Among the number of tourists who come every year is a large contingent of visitors from Asia which inspired one of the companys most popular and sought-after potato chip products lobster- flavoured chips which are sold only during lobster season from May to September. Fish and lobster flavour is a cultural mainstay in Asia and when visitors from Asia come through the Maritimes they expect lobster. Theyre always buying lobster key chains and things like that Albright says. Originally the lobster chips were put into a plain silver bag and sold in the companys gift shop. The flavour soon caught on. We started selling them to other places in New Brunswick then we developed an actual bag for it. Now we sell it across Canada. Its been a big hit Albright says. The companys decision to use russet potatoes also adds to the products uniqueness he adds since potato chips are traditionally made with white potatoes. When you eat any fast food chains french fries theyre made from russets. Its a whole different flavour profile he says but notes using russets requires the company to communicate with their customers and let them know why Covered Bridge potato chips are darker than other brands. We have to educate the public that the chips arent burned. Theyre darker in colour because of the higher sugar content in the potatoes Albright says. Covered Bridge chips are all natural with no artificial colours or preservatives and no trans fat or cholesterol. The chips are also billed as gluten- free to capture the emerging market for gluten-free alternatives. Potato chip seasonings often contain gluten Albright explains but the seasonings used on Covered Bridge chips are carefully made so as to contain zero gluten. We were the second certified gluten-free chip in North America when we started he says adding that the chip factory is also kosher certified. Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company also markets sweet potato chips. Were the only company in Canada that makes sweet potato chips and the third company in North America to make them. Theyre tricky to make and thats why a lot of companies dont bother with them Albright says. It took us a long time to learn how to cook them right. MAKING A MARK Craig Melanson Hartlands mayor says Covered Bridge Chips has helped keep Hartland on the map as a Canadian potato chip mecca. The community is really proud of the work theyve done in getting the plant up and running. They started with an idea and its turned out to be a great tourist attraction as well as a thriving industry for the area he says. Hartland is celebrating its 100th birthday in two years and our history of the potato goes back a long long way when our forefathers were marketing seed potatoes down in South America at the turn of the 20th century. Theres a good history there. The people running the Covered Bridge plant their history goes back that far as well from marketing to growing to being a part of the potato chip supply chain to making their own potato chips now. Its a great success story. That success is what led to the companys appearance earlier this year on The Rick Mercer Report on CBC television. Albright and company staff appeared on camera with Mercer who took a Hartland New Brunswicks iconic covered bridge the longest in the world. PHOTO GOVERNMENT OF NEW BRUNSWICK. RYAN ALBRIGHT We realized there was a real opportunity with the covered bridge and all the tourists who come to see it every year. We knew we could try and capture that market to help in the branding and it worked.