Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
IDAHO FALLS – Since launching a potato chip company in Arco four years ago, Don and Joanna Tarner have earned a worldwide reputation.
Atomic Potato Chip Company offers 24 different flavors of homemade potato chips made from fresh Idaho Russets. No preservatives are added and Don Tarner tells EastIdahoNews.com Redmond pink salt and peanut oil are two key ingredients that set them apart from other chip companies.
"We wanted to make the most delicious potato chips we could make," he says. "Our chips aren't the cheapest (price), but people want quality and we've been successful with that."
Don Tarner worked in commercial real estate for years on the East Coast and bought a potato chip company as part of that venture. He recalls eating a lot of Kat and Ray's potato chips, a staple in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he grew up.
The idea for using peanut oil and fresh cut potatoes stuck with him for years after visiting a restaurant in Delaware as an adult. Its fries were a hot seller and an employee cited those two things as the reason.
Don Tarner is a fan of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and he and his wife traveled to Pocatello around 2016 to attend a concert. They fell in love with the area and decided to move.
They initially settled in Blackfoot, but the duo's upbringing and his background in real estate later prompted them to move to the Arco area.
"The further out you go, the better chance (you have) of owning something," he explains. "Joanna grew up on a farm in Missouri. I had a beautiful farm in the east. I'm a country guy and I love looking at land and so that's what took me out there."
Joanna Tarner is a commercial cook and since Idaho's largest export is potatoes, they decided to start a business venture together using their individual skills.
They started making homemade potato chips out of their Blackfoot home initially, which they sold at farmer's markets and events in Pocatello, Wood River and Sun Valley. Word started to spread and the number of orders soon became too much for them to manage.
The discovery of a commercial kitchen space in Arco three years ago was a game-changer that's allowed them to expand. They're now selling chips in local stores and shipping orders for customers worldwide.
"Chips have been sent to our troops in South Korea, they've been to Canada and Sweden," says Don Tarner.
A man from Pocatello recently bought four or five bags and asked the couple a question.
"Would you be willing to ship these to someone in Orlando, Florida?" the man asked, according to Don Tarner.
"Of course," Don Tarner replied, thinking nothing of it.
Later, he learned the man was the CEO of World Spice Inc., a major brand whose spices are sold in every grocery store.
He and another major company offered to become equity partners in the Tarner's two-man operation, Don Tarner says.
"It's a really cool opportunity and it's flattering, but I don't know that I want to work for somebody. At this point, I think we just want to grow our brand, keep it in Idaho and see where it goes," says Don Tarner.
A chef in Coeur d'Alene asked them to provide chips for the upcoming governor's ball on Sept. 5. Don Tarner and his wife are making a trip to deliver the chips in person for that event.
"We ship all the time but for something like this, I'm hand-delivering them," Don Tarner says. "I've been to Coeur d'Alene once. You don't have to twist my arm to go there."
