PepsiCo Canada
Lay's, Miss Vickies, Ruffles
Address: 5205 Satellite Drive Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5J7, Canada
Phone: 1 905 212-7377
Website: www.pepsico.ca, www.missvickies.ca
Email: Contact Form

Miss Vickie's Potato Chips

The original Miss Vickie's recipe was devised by Vickie and Bill Kerr, at their potato farm in New Lowell, Ontario.
The couple launched their new Potato Chips at the 14th annual Alliston Potato Festival in 1987, and they quickly gained popularity among festival visitors, where they completely sold out. 
Over the following years the Chips were produced and marketed from Pointe-Claire, Quebec, and became popular all over Canada, where they assumed 1% of the national market.
Miss Vickie's packaging was designed by Mobil Chemical Canada Ltd., of Belleville, Ontario. It was created not only to improve the look of the packets, but also for improved closure and moisture and oxygen resistance.
Friot-Lay acquired the company in 1993, and the first order of progress was to formulate new recipes.
Miss Vickie's Sea Salt & Vinegar Chips 
Of all potato chips and crisps flavours the salt and vinegar variety will invariably provide the most striking Nose Plunge Test. These were no different. There was a strong whiff of vinegar when the bag was opened for the first time. Another consistent feature of salt and vinegar chips is the often over-powering nature of the vinegar. It seems very difficult for chips manufacturers to get the balance right. These did have a salty potato backdrop, but the pre-eminent force was undoubtedly the vinegar, which seemed a little sweet balsamic. Overall, the effect was a nice and comfy, not too strong, slightly overly vinegared chip.   
(16)
Miss Vickie's Sweet Chili & Sour Cream 
An interesting prospect. Sweet chilli rather than hot chilli with sour cream. Does sweet chilli need tempering with sour cream? The answer was clearly, no. The sweetness was completely redundant. Admittedly, in the modern world of fancy flavour titles, 'Chili & Sour Cream' doesn't sound quite as exotic as ‘Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Onion,’ but if I were to overlook that there was a creamy potato flavour mixed up with a little spicy pepper heat. The aftertaste even included some residual chilli heat. So, good chips, incorrectly named.   
(15)
Miss Vickie's Jalapeno Potato Chips
Frito-Lay generally like their chips to be pleasing to as many people as possible, so even though these had the word 'Jalapeno' writ large across the centre of the bag, I did not expect too much. A Nose Plunge Test did, however, reveal a rather impressive peppery jalapeno aroma. The taste was a little creamy and greasy potato mixed with particularly spicy jalapeno. Scrub that - Just jalapeno. The pepper was noticeable in its flavour description, and although not blisteringly hot, it did not need to be in this case. For a mass-manufactured hot flavour, this was pretty impressive. 
(19)
Miss Vickie's Lime & Black Pepper Chips
Firstly, hats off to Miss Vickie’s for bringing us a flavour that should be welcomed more openly by the general chips producing world. It is a classic combo that could be as familiar as barbecue or salt and vinegar. However, the problem with the pairing, and presumably the reason why they are not as prevalent on supermarket shelves as more familiar flavours, is because they do not mix well together. While a couple stare lovingly into each other's eyes before finishing sentences, these would be staring in different directions having separate conversations. While both the lime and pepper were enjoyable, they were different experiences in the same bag.   
(15)
Miss Vickie's Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Onion Potato Chips
A Nose Plunge Test revealed a gentle vinegar aroma. They were very enjoyable chips. They featured a slightly sour backdrop, which hinted towards vinegar, even though balsamic has its own opinion on the tartness of vinegar. There was also a sweetness, that similarly, hinted towards onion. It was hard to define the flavours individually, but the balance worked well together to provide an original taste experience.   
(14)