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Buyers' Picks Chips and Salsa

Discover retailers’ choices for top crunchy, salty treats—from classic potato and tortilla chips to non-traditional varieties—plus popular dips and beverage accompaniments.

Brian Rapp, G.B. Russo & Son, Grand Rapids, MI

Unique flavors and price is what attracts our customers to chips and salsas. I anticipate fresh fruit being a major theme for summer salsas. My picks are:

Food Should Taste Good Olive Tortilla Chips (below)
Kettle Chips Sea Salt and Vinegar (below)
Kettle Chips Spicy Thai
Villa Russo Mad Mango Salsa
Villa Russo Raspberry Salsa

Jackie Pope-Ganser, The Garlic Press, Normal, IL

We promote local products that have fresh, all-natural ingredients and great tastes. Customers also like salsas that double as cooking sauces. Great-tasting products are:

Frog Ranch Chipotle Salsa
Plocky’s Red Beans ’N Rice
Tortilla Chips (left)
Stonewall Kitchen Peach Salsa
Plocky’s Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Chips
Xochitl Habanero Salsa

Gloria Reyes, Union Market, Brooklyn, NY

Customers often prefer fresh and natural products—like salsa—to shelf stable and seek out chips with whole-grain benefits. My picks:

Nana’s Cocina Traditional
Tortilla Chips
Stacy’s Simply Naked
Pita Chips (below)
Union Market Fresh Salsa
Xochitl Chipotle Salsa
Xochitl Totopos de Maiz
Salted Corn Chips

Gary Corbin, McGinnis Sisters, Adams Township, PA

Half of our customers look for healthier, organic products while half look for salty conventional treats. Consistent sellers are:

Dessert Pepper Trading Corn, Black Bean, Roasted Red Pepper Salsa
Herr’s Tortilla Chips, Yellow Corn
McGinnis Sisters’ Corn Salsa (below)
Snyder’s of Hanover Barbecue Potato Chips
Stacy’s Pita Chips (all varieties)

Cross-Merchandising Sherry and Snacks

There are a ton of options to drink with chips and salsa—like Cava or Albarino—but Sherry is a great complement to the salty and spicy snack. The rounder, more briny acidic notes of an Oloroso Seco Sherry such as Sacromonte Oloroso from Bodegas Valdivia, will balance the spicy tomato flavors by cutting the acid and heat. The Sacromonte Oloroso has balsamic and nutty notes with a long-lasting aftertaste that is perfect for a chip and salsa party.
—Dan Cameron, The Princeton Corkscrew, Princeton, NJ

Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine.