Tourism Excellence and Innovation awards presented (10/05/28)

May 28, 2010

EDMUNDSTON (CNB) - The 2010 Tourism Excellence and Innovation Awards were presented on Thursday, May 27, in Edmundston. The Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick (TIANB) hosted the awards ceremony.

The awards recognize exceptional performance in product development, marketing and creative partnerships undertaken by businesses, operators and organizations in the tourism sector.

Nominations were evaluated by a panel of experts comprised of tourism industry representatives from New Brunswick and elsewhere who are recognized for their experience with, and knowledge of, the tourism sector.

Winner!! of the Tourism Product Development Award.         

We were among the four Award winners, and this is what the panel had to say about us:

What sets this product development initiative apart is the fact that there are no similar ones in the country. Covered Bridge Potato Chips is the only destination in Canada where people can take daily factory tours of a potato chip manufacturing plant. It gives visitors a unique, fun and educational experience that appeals to all ages and that can be enjoyed year-round. This initiative gives "pass-through" visitors an enticing reason beyond the Hartland Covered Bridge to turn off the highway.

Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) Natural Food Expo

Vancouver, BC

2010

The CHFA Expo West 2010 is the largest event for natural products and organics industries. Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company was a first time exhibitor there this year. The event went really well, and the booth was very popular among visitors.

You can view the picture on the left which was taken at the event with Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company's President Ryan Albright and our distributor in the West, Planet Foods.

Covered Bridge Potato Chips turn heads

Published on October 30th, 2008

Jim Rohman

Toronto, Ontario - Ryan Albright has been flitting across major retail markets, launching Covered Bridge potato chips grown and processed on his farm close to Canadas longest covered bridge near Waterville, New Brunswick.

His chips turned heads at the Grocery Innovations Canada show in Toronto recently because the industry-standard foil packaging is inside burlap bags.

Its an innovative way of connecting urban consumers with the farm in this market where many consumers want to know where their food comes from.

The chips are kettle-boiled in canola oil, which is another plus with many nutrition-conscious shoppers.

Albright started promoting long before his plant was scheduled to begin production at the end of November.

He was at the Natural Foods Expo at Boston just before flying in to Toronto with his sales manager, Krysten Scott.

And the day after the Toronto show closed, he was in Montreal for a tourism trade show where he aimed to interest bus-tour operators in adding a stop at his farm to their itineraries.

Grocery Innovations Canada is the largest trade show of its type in Canada, attracting all of the biggest supermarket chains and distribution companies.

Many suppliers choose the show to launch new products, suppliers such as Kraft, Nestle, Maple Leaf Foods, Agropur, Parmalat, Saputo, Proctor and Gamble.

Those who make equipment and provide services to supermarket chains are also prominent at the show that takes up acres of space at the Congress Centre near the Toronto international airport.

Is the world ready for a better potato chip?

By Heather McLaughlin of the Daily Gleaner

 (Fredericton, NB)

A Waterville family says it is and it has spent two years perfecting Covered Bridge Potato Chips before launching into full production two weeks ago.

The product is hitting Fredericton convenience store shelves next week, with more locations in the capital city to follow.

"We've been trying to go with an all-natural thing at our store. They're all natural. They're locally made," said Jeni Barron, manager of Norm's Butcher Block on Hanwell Road.

Barron said she has tried the sea salt, smokin' sweet barbecue and the sweet potato chip dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar.

"They're different. They taste more like a dessert than a potato chip," Barron said.

The chips taste great, she said, and customers are keen to buy them.

Even before they were on the shelves, when some shoppers got wind that the meat shop/convenience store was going to stock them, they were eager, Barron said.

"You're going to get the Hartland potato chips? That's awesome," Barron said customers told her.

Even Premier Shawn Graham is a fan.

"They're delicious," Graham said after sampling the old-fashioned, kettle-cooked chips during a trip to Hartland this week.

That is such sweet music to 23-year-old Krysten Scott. The Pennfield native graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 2008 with an honours degree in business and landed her first job with the Albright family, who runs a 200-hectare (500-acre) potato farm near Hartland.

"It's been pretty interesting. It's been quite a learning opportunity," Scott said.

Most of her classmates have had to look farther afield to get their first job because there's not a lot of marketing opportunities in New Brunswick for students just out of school.

"A lot of companies want someone with a few years experience," she said.

But the company's principals - 28-year-old Ryan Albright, 25-year-old Matthew Albright and their 30-year-old cousin Shaun Albright - aren't exactly aged executives.

"Ryan actually put an ad in at UNB, and UNB sent an e-mail to all the business students because he was looking for someone to do marketing for them. I just applied and came for an interview, and here I am," Scott said.

"Ryan and I work together on a lot of things. We came up with ideas for designs for the bag and for the website, and we did up all our literature and our brochures."

The company's website, www.coveredbridgechips.com, tells the story of the family farm in a down-home, friendly style and is laced with pictures, including a New Brunswick landmark, the world's longest covered bridge in Hartland.

"Our chips are made with a russet burbank potato. They're a darker chip and they have sort of a unique flavour to them. They're kettle-cooked chips. They have no preservatives. No artificial colours or flavours. No trans-fats. They're cholesterol-free and gluten-free," Scott said.

The chips have a three-month shelf life and the secret to keeping them fresh is to use a technique to flush out the foil chip bags with nitrogen, which pushes out oxygen.

"The oxygen is what breaks them down," Scott said.

She said one of their original ideas was to sell the chips in mini-burlap bags, like an old-style potato chip bag. Scott said they're still going to pursue that idea for natural-food specialty stores and tourist stops, but they opted for a traditional foil bag for conventional over-the-counter sales.

Scott said they're working on deals with Zellers and Sobeys to put the chips in those outlets.

In Fredericton, you'll find the chips next week at the UNB campus convenience store, the Southwood Park Convenience store, Nashwaaksis 6-12 Scholtens and the Oromocto Scholtens, Peter's Meat Market, Wilkins Main Street Esso, Quiznos on Dundonald Street, Wilson's Quik Mart, Norm's Butcher Block, Fredericton Co-op, Miramichi Road Esso Express, and Samimi's Convenience on Hanwell Road.

Covered Bridge Potato Chips brings jobs and tourism to the region. By Shawn Merrithew of the Bugle Observer (Woodstock, NB)

What began as a small idea has grown into reality, bringing numerous possibilities to the Upper Valley and the potential for bigger opportunities.

PHOTO BY SHAWN MERRITHEW

Covered Bridge Potato Chips in Waterville officially opened its doors over the weekend, with samples and tours of its facility. Even local government officials were on hand for the festivities and enjoy a tasty sample, including Conservative Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen, second from left, and Liberal Agriculture Minister Ron Ouellette, second from right. From left are co-owner Shawn Albright, Allen, co-owner Ryan Albright, Ouellette and co-owner Matthew Albright.

PHOTO BY SHAWN MERRITHEW

Some visitors take a free tour of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip facility to see how the gourmet kettle chips are made.

PHOTO BY SHAWN MERRITHEW

The day opened with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. From left are co-owner Ryan Albright, co-owner Shawn Albright, Agriculture Minister Ron Ouellette, Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen and co-owner Matthew Albright.

PHOTO BY SHAWN MERRITHEW

Good friends Dean Briggs, left, and Evan Springer enjoy some freshly-cooked kettle chips at the Covered Bridge Potato Chip factory grand opening on Saturday morning.

The Waterville-based Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company Inc. officially open its doors on Saturday morning, with a ribbon cutting, free tour of the facility and samples of its fresh-cooked kettle chips.

But, said Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen, Covered Bridge Potato Chips offers much more than a market for local spuds.

"It is not just potatoes," Allen said, as he addressed the crowd on hand for the special ceremony. "It is potatoes and adding jobs, which is a great thing for the region."

"At a time when the potato industry is having its challenges, this is really good," Allen added. "It shows we can still have positive and value-added products, which is so important. When we look at our existing products, rather than just sell them in a bag, now we can add value to them and create a really great market for it — and a healthy market in some ways. He (company president and co-owner Ryan Albright) is really focusing on a niche market and I think that is what is going to be important."

In addition to jobs for the Upper Valley, Allen added, the spin-off effects will create even more jobs in administrative support, processing of locally-grown potatoes and transportation, which is vital to the region.

"So the spin-offs are tremendous anytime you can add a new business like this and be successful," Allen said. "Ryan is a go-getter, and I think he and the others will make a tremendous effort."

It has been a long journey for the past three years, said Albright, but it was well worth it. Business is already blossoming since introducing his product to local stores earlier this year.

"We have had a lot of local support," Albright said. "As we start introducing our chips in new areas, the feedback has been phenomenal. People love the taste and the quality of the chips."

Now his potato chips can be found in stores throughout the province, including the big grocery chain Sobeys.

Albright added the company wants to be known more than just potato chips.

A key element to his business is making it a tourist destination, he pointed out, getting motorists off the Trans Canada Highway to see what Carleton County has to offer. To serve this purposed, he said, Covered Bridge Potato Chips offers tours of the site, which visitors can see how kettle chips are made and learn the history of the Russet potato — the key ingredient in his product.

"We needed something more to get them to stop and enhance what we have here in the area," Albright said.

New Brunswick Agriculture Minister Ron Ouellette agrees. Not only is Albright's business important to the agriculture sector, he said, it certainly adds to tourism for Carleton County.

"The fact that this is an agri-tourist enterprise is great," said Ouellette. "Getting tourists to stop here, that is super."

He pointed out some see New Brunswick as a drive-by province, but he doesn't think that is the case. With destinations like the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company, it will get motorists off the four-lane highway and into the communities.

"We need more of this," Ouellette said. "We have Potato World in this area and the Covered Bridge. Now we have this, which is great. Tourists may not stop for just one thing, but, if they have two or three locations to go and see different things, they'll do it."