Pringles: Chips born out of consumer complaints 

What is that one brand of potato chips that comes stacked in a long and cylindrical container? Yes, you guessed it right. We are talking about Pringles. One of the leading potato chips manufacturers worldwide and a competitor of the likes of Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, Pringles was born in the USA and is now owned by Kellogg’s. Not only are they stackable, they are also flavourful, crispy, less oily and hardly ever overcooked. Okay, but do you have any idea about how these flavoured potato chips came into existence? Come, let’s find out, together.  

The pre-Pringles story 
Potato chips are such a popular snack that it is difficult to imagine a time when they didn’t exist. However, it was only in 1853 that they saw the light of the day, that too accidentally. Turns out, a native American chef named George Crum who was working at a resort restaurant in Saratoga, New York, was angry when a customer complained about the fried potatoes he had been served. In order to respond to him, he sliced some potatoes as thin as he could and simply deep fried them till they were crisp. Fortunately, the customer was more than impressed and this is how potato chips was born. Now, till 1939, potato chips reigned the world of snacks. However, when the World War II struck, only essential food items were rationed amidst acute crisis, and potato chips didn’t make it to that list. In fact, production was altogether stopped during the years of war. However, as soon as the war is over, the snack bounced back in popularity. However, the chips lovers had two complains: They were too greasy and the bags in which they came were mostly filled with air and broken bits.  

Addressing consumer complaint 
To address the above-mentioned consumer complaint, in 1956, an American multinational consumer goods company named Procter and Gamble (P&G) hired a chemist Fredric J. Baur He had to come up with a kind of potato chips that will have no grease, will be intact and fresh and come without the air in the bags. Well, guess what? Baur did fulfil the task he was assigned with just 2 years. He applied geometry to come up with a saddle-shaped chips (made from fried dough) which didn’t break if well-packed in a cylindrical vacuum-sealed can. In fact, the shape of the chips was called hyberbolic paraboloid as per Baur. But there was still one serious problem. They tasted really bad. 

Taste is finally improved 
Realising that their dream of perfecting potato chips was difficult to turn into a reality, P&G put the idea on hold for several years and tried out other food items. However, in 1968, they decided to revisit Baur’s idea on his request. This time, they hired a food taster named Alexander Liepa from Ohio. Guess what he did? He said that their saddle shape was viable, but they need to make certain changes to their previous recipe. For starters, it had to include a paste of dehydrated potatoes, rice, corn and wheat. Then they were turned into the desired shape using a cookie cutter and Baur’s customised saddle device. Soon, a mechanical engineer named Gene Wolfe developed a perfect machine to make the chips. The rest, as they say, is history.  

Origin of the name Pringles 
Well, there are as many as four theories behind the origin of the name Pringles. The most popular theory is that the company was inspired by the name of Mark Pringle, who was a patent holder for the “Method and Apparatus for Processing Potatoes” that is believed to have inspired P&G to consider perfecting the art of potato chips. Another theory says that two advertising employees of P&G hailed from Pringle Drive in Ohio and they together named their company’s creation Pringles. Then there’s another story which says that the owner of P&G came upon the name Pringles in a Cincinnati telephone book and decided to go with it as the name was catchy! It may have also been inspired by the native American hat pringle that the P&G family famously donned. Regardless, the name Pringles stayed on and went on to become a global sensation. Interestingly, it was first marketed as Pringle’s Newfangled Potato Chips. Funny, isn’t it?