PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Although small in size, the Mister Bee Potato Chip company is trying to stand tall in saying “Thanks” to the nation’s veterans. CEO Mary Anne Ketelsen commissioned a special potato chip bag specifically for honoring veterans.
“This was a way I could give back to our veterans and military personnel, by unveiling this new bag and donating ten percent of the sales to the USO,” said Ketelsen on MetroNews “Talkline” on Veterans Day Monday.
She and her husband also plan to match whatever contribution Mister Bee winds up making to the USO from the sale of the special bag. Ketelsen, who is the principle owner and CEO, bought the company in 2015 along with co-investors. She says the decision to give back and return the favor to vets is a trait she learned from her mother. The decision to direct the donations to the USO was at the suggestion of a friend who works at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.
“I see him often and he’s talked about the USO and goes to Walter Reed to see what he can do. He was just as enthused as I was about the new bag and now he wants me to go to Walter Reed with him to hand out chips,” she said.
Mister Bee is West Virginia’s only potato chip company and plans to produce 250,000 bags of chips with the “Salute Our Veterans” design, which could generate as much as $50,000 for the USO.
“We are confident our loyal customers, as well as managers of outlets who sell our products, will enthusiastically support this initiative to show our commitment to caring for our Veterans.” she said.
Since taking over Mister Bee, Ketelsen has invested $2 Million dollars into equipment upgrades to make the company viable, competitive and the product consistent. She said on Talkline the process is finally starting to turn the corner.
“Our product is a lot more consistent. We can run 90 bags a minute where before we were lucky if we could get 20,” she said.
Mister Bee is one of the last “mom and pop” potato chip producers in America. Ketelsen credited brand loyalty for much of their success. She said while her company would never match a national brand like Lay’s for market share, they are having success with stories asking to put the Mister Bee chip products into their brand bags.
“It’s just a tough business,” Ketelsen said. “With potato chips, you can’t sell them for a whole lot so there’s not a lot of profit in them.”