Herr’s fourth year of its “Flavored by Philly” chip competition introduced its first battle of champions and upped the ante by offering a permanent spot for the winning flavor.
The competitors each beat out two other flavors to win their respective years, and now have to do it again. They are:
- “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone”
- The “Tomato Pie” flavor, inspired by Corropolese Bakery in Montgomery County
- The “Special Hot Stromboli” chip based on Romano’s original sandwich in Essington
Jim Herr, the Chester-based chips company’s senior VP of marketing, said the decision to make this year’s competition a “Crunch Off,” rather than roll out three brand-new flavors like before, was based on fan feedback.
“With the great response we’ve had over the past three years and how many people have asked us to bring back previous winners, we thought it made a ton of sense to have a battle of the champions, have the crunch off, and have one of these items have a chance to be an everyday product,” he said.
Like the previous three years, we picked up a big bag of each chip flavor, posted up in a well-trafficked spot in WHYY’s office, and had the Billy Penn team — along with our WHYY colleagues — give them a try.
This year’s 45 taste testers picked their favorite. Most had some initial impressions after each bite, and some shared deeper feedback and rated each flavor based on general enjoyability, accuracy to the dish they were trying to imitate, and originality.
This anecdotal data was also paired with an Instagram poll to get some of the public’s perspective on a favorite flavor.
Not to brag, but Billy Penn’s taste test has successfully predicted the overall winner of the competition every year. That’s not to say it’s a sure thing, but we, um, trust our process.
Long Hots and Sharp Provolone: “Super in your face”
The inaugural champion, a locally themed “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” flavor designed by a local chip innovator, brought the heat this year, and the majority of the WHYY office’s tasters loved it.
“It’s big on the sharp provolone, the heat comes after,” one taster said. “It’s super in your face,” said another who voted for it. Others highlighted the zesty and savory flavors in the chips.
Of the 45 office voters, 27 picked the flavor as their favorite. It was also the top pick on our Instagram poll, with 47% of the vote.
Some did find the spiciness a little too much, though. “Fun flavor, too spicy to eat a bag of them,” one person wrote. A couple almost-tasters shied away at the spicy smell of the chip, thinking it wouldn’t fare well in their mouth.
Tomato Pie: “Direct intentions, sweetness”
The “Tomato Pie” flavor, year two’s winner inspired by Corropolese Bakery, earned plaudits for its sweet and tangy flavor. It came in second in the office voting with 11, and garnered 38% of the Instagram votes.
“A little too sweet at first, but it does taste like tomato pie,” wrote one taster, while another called it “a unique sweet tomatoey chip flavor.” A third found it to be the most snackable of the three chips, which they described as a flavor you could absent-mindedly eat half a bag of before you realize what’s happened. We think that was meant as a good thing.
Special Hot Stromboli: “Good in a sandwich”
The “Special Hot Stromboli” flavor, based on Essington-based Romano’s signature sandwich, ended up being compared directly to the “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” flavor by many of our tasters, while the sweet flavor of the Tomato Pie stood out in contrast to both. This led to many folks either calling it out for not being spicy or cheesy enough, or preferring its milder, meatier flavor.
Like last year, many remarked on the taste similarities to a hoagie or “hoagie oil.” One taster envisioned the chip tasting “good in a sandwich.” But the subtlety of what Herr’s describes as “savory, cheesy, and mild heat flavors” didn’t help it stand out compared to the other two flavors as much as it did over last year’s competition.
“Special Hot Stromboli” picked up seven votes in the office and got 15% of our Instagram voting, coming in third for both.
“It does taste like stromboli, but I don’t actually want a meat chip,” one person wrote in our poll.
Winner(s)?
Long Hots came out as the clear winner in both our clearly unscientific, but somehow prescient office taste test, as it did in 2022. It also claimed the majority in our Instagram polling, though the margins were a little closer.
According to Herr’s, last year’s competition drew 26,000 votes, compared to more than 17,600 the previous year, and more than 11,000 votes in the inaugural edition. This year, the company brought in Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber — whose organization, Neighbourhood Heroes, the chip company supports — to help draw more fans to vote in the competition.
“We’ve seen continued momentum each year that we do this, and we get a little broader and we get a little bit more reach and interest,” Jim Herr said. “So we’re really excited to see what type of interest we get this year as we’ve stepped up the partnership and the investment around it.”
Another clear thing our taste test shows is that people’s palates vary quite a lot, so you are your own best judge on which chip is your favorite.
The flavors are available in the usual stores and you can cast your official pick on Herr’s competition page, or by following the instructions on the bag. Voting closes on August 4 and the winning flavor will be revealed on August 31. There’s also a sweepstakes for voters, with eight gift baskets of snacks, merchandise and a $100 gift card up for grabs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
