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What do “freedom, liberty and unity” taste like? Back in November, Herr’s asked chip lovers this question..
And the people have answered.
Say hello to Herr’s “Flavored by Philly: Taste of 250” flavors:
- Freedom Loaded Cheese Fries, which Herr’s describes as a “a ripple potato chip perfectly seasoned to taste like crispy french fries topped with creamy cheese and smoky bacon.”
- Liberty Hickory Barbecue, billed as a “ripple potato chip packed with barbecue-sauce flavor combined with sweet molasses and a smoky hickory flavor.”
- United Jalapeño Cream Cheese, another ripple chip, this one “with bold cream cheese flavor paired with mild jalapeño pepper spice.”
In summation, American ideals taste like cheese, barbecue and more cheese.
Monday night, we loaded onto a double decker city tour bus next to Independence Mall to celebrate the flavor unveiling along with Herr’s senior leadership team, a bunch of Philly influencers and Joe T. our dedicated city tour guide.
In the hot June sun, we sat on the top deck in very tiny chairs (who knew these bus seats were so little?) and began our journey — embarking upon 250 years of history and salty, snacky goodness.
Joe started us off with some safety instructions. Apparently, these tours require constant vigilance, dodging tree branches and power lines. His voice was both jovial and wonderfully husky.
“Do your best to avoid wires and things,” he told us. “Other than that, it’s time to eat some Herr’s chips, and to hell with Lay’s, I guess.”
“I mean how cool is it that Philadelphia has been the birthplace of America for 250 years, and we’re part of it. Our family business is part of it. We’ve been here for 80 years and this is what our company does,” said Ed Herr, executive chairman of Herr’s. “Who wouldn’t want to be in the business of fun?”
The three winners got the most votes out of the nine curated concept flavors the Chester County company put forward.
- Freedom Loaded Cheese Fries” beat out “Freedom Cheesy Crab Dip” and “Freedom Cheesy Bread.”
- “Liberty Hickory BBQ” was more popular than “Liberty Roasted Garlic BBQ” and “Liberty Hot Honey BBQ.”
- “United Jalapeño Cream Cheese” was favored over “United Lemon Pepper” and “United Mango Habanero.” It took us, and Joe, probably longer than it should have to realize that the bag said “United” instead of “Unity.” Eric Kremer, Herr’s vice president of marketing said this switch made simply roll off the tongue better before jalapeño cream cheese — his personal favorite.
The bus took us around Old City, through North Philly and up and down the Parkway. We stopped at Love Park for some Wawa hoagies and then again at the museum steps, where Herr posed with the Rocky statue and the new chip bags.
“The flavors were really a blast to develop and they’re all just a little bit different too,” said Pete Graziano, Herr’s director of research and development. If you’re planning on trying all the flavors sequentially, Graziano recommended starting with either the loaded cheese fries or barbecue flavors, then finishing with the jalapeño.
Ed Herr also plugged an outside the box option.
“What I’d recommend is taking all the chips and putting them together on a sandwich,” he said. “And why not? That sounds good to me.”
Herr’s said that it received nearly 100,000 votes during the promotional period, between Nov.12 to Dec.10. This was the fifth edition of the Flavored by Philly competition, for a company that has “been changing the world with unique flavors” for 80 years, Herr said.
“It’s almost like entertainment,” he explained. “We’re not even watching a movie, but we’re entertaining ourselves with flavors. We worked hard all day, and we want a reward.”
The inaugural edition of the “Flavored by Philly” competition in 2022 pitted three fan-created Philly flavors against each other, with “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” winning the popular vote.
The next two years produced flavors paying homage to local spots suggested by fans. “Tomato Pie” flavor, inspired by Corropolese Bakery in Montgomery County, and the “Special Hot Stromboli” chip based on Romano’s original sandwich in Essington prevailed in the last two years, respectively.
Year 4 was a “Crunch Off” of the first three champions, in which “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” emerged as the “Crunch Off” champion and entered Herr’s permanent lineup this year.
The company’s 2026 plans also include working in partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies, who will be hosting the MLB All-Star festivities in July. Kremer said that the Flavored by Philly competition plans to return to its previous format for the next edition.
