Herr’s Factory Tour
Potato chips are the primary product at Herr Foods in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, but the family-owned firm also makes pretzels, cheese curls, tortilla chips and popcorn. You can see it all being produced during a factory tour: a first hand learning experience where children and adults can learn how a pretzel gets its brown color, what makes a great chipping potato, and how tortilla chips get their seasoning. After the tour, you can stop for lunch or buy something to snack on in the car. The only wrinkle is that you need to schedule a tour ahead of time. Fill out the form on the website or call 800:637-6225.
The Herr Foods story began in 1946 when 21-year-old James Stauffer Herr bought a small potato chip company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for $1,750. In 1989 the company constructed a 15,000-square-foot Visitors Center adjacent to the plant in Nottingham. Tours begin in a 140-seat theater, where visitors are entertained and educated by a 27-minute film, featuring Jim Herr and Chipper® the Chipmunk, a puppet animated by Jim Henson Puppeteers. Current Chairman of the Board and CEO, Herr Foods Inc., is Jim Herr’s son, James M. Herr, whose brother, Ed Herr, is President/Director, Herr Foods Inc.