“Napoleon! Gimme some of your tots.”
“No! Go and find your own.”
“Come on! Gimme some of your tots!”
“No! I’m freaking starved! I didn’t get to eat anything today!”
*kicks tots*
“Gross! Freaking idiot!”
Help us sustain our podcast and keep us trying foods like these!
Which Tater Tots are we trying today?
Ore-Ida
Trader Joe’s
Sonic
Lamb Weston
Who is on this quest?
Nate, Third.
Randi, Fourth.
Matt, Second.
Amy, First.
And of course, our subscribers! Thanks to our small, yet coveted group. We appreciate the support. You too can join us on this food journey. All you need to do is… SUBSCRIBE!
The History of Tater Tots
The year is 1954. The place? Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Florida. The occasion? The 1954 National Potato Convention. Here you will find Nephi Grigg, with a 15 pound bag of a brand new product. Knowing this was his opportunity to showcase something great to a convention full of potato loving folks, he bargained with the head chef of the hotel who was preparing breakfast for the hungry convention goers. The chef agreed to cook up this new item, and it was placed on small saucers and distributed to the tables as samples.
And they were loved by everyone at the convention. The Tater Tot was born.
But what lead up to this extraordinary moment?
Brothers Nephi and Golden Grigg were two entrepreneurs that wanted to live the American Dream. Born in the 1910s, they just scraped by during the Great Depression in Idaho, growing and selling potatoes and corn. Scraping by was not in Nephi’s plans though. Convinced that the future of produce would not be in the produce aisle of the grocery store but in the frozen food aisle, the brothers decided to buy a flash-freezing plant in Oregon, located right on the border between Oregon and Idaho, and the company Ore-Ida was born.
They started out distributing corn and French fries. The fries, though popular, were a bit of a problem to the brothers, who hated any type of food waste in their company. Since the fries were cut from the middle of the potato, there ended up being odd shaped, miscellaneous pieces that couldn’t be used. Instead of throwing these out, or feeding them to the livestock, they decided to smash these bits together, blanch them, form them into the tot shape we all know, cook them in oil, and freeze them.
Initially, the public didn’t seem to keen on them. Why would a cheap product be good? Solution? They upped the price and they soon flew off the shelves. This was the beginning of the best potato product money could buy. Ore-Ida quickly became a household name. And this all happened in the same year that they presented this delicious food to the Potato Convention.
Ore-Ida gained 25% of the frozen potato market in the 1950s.
In 1965 Grigg sold the company to H.J. Heinz for $30 million.
The Results
**SPOILER ALERT!**
Listen to the episode first if you do not want the results revealed to you yet!
4th Place: Sonic
Amy - 6
Matt - 6
Nate - 5
Randi - 6
3rd Place: Trader Joe’s
Amy - 5
Matt - 7
Nate - 8
Randi - 7
2nd Place: Lamb Weston
Amy - 10
Matt - 7
Nate - 6
Randi - 7
1st Place: Ore-Ida
Amy - 9
Matt - 7
Nate - 7
Randi - 8
There you have it. Ore-Ida receives the Quest for the Best seal of approval.
Thank you all for joining us on this episode of Quest for the Best. Let us know what you thought. Which is your favorite Tater Tot? We would love to hear your rating!
Also, do you have any foods you would love to get the coveted seal of approval? Let us know in the comments what you want to hear next.
And of course, remember to subscribe to hear the latest episodes. And chip in on the podcast! Whatever value you get out of this entertainment, send it back our way. We thank you for the support!
Show Notes:
https://www.eater.com/2017/8/28/16159710/tater-tots-ore-ida-history
https://www.mashed.com/340889/the-untold-truth-of-tater-tots/
Episode 136: Tater Tots