The cost of potato chips has risen 30% since 2020, according to Fortune. According to CNN, the average chip price was $5.09 in 2020, and now it’s $6.56. The current price of chips can still come as a shock for people who don’t frequent the chip aisle often. An Illinois-based chef was shopping at Jewel-Osco when he noticed the price of Ruffles.
He mocked the cost in a video that’s been viewed 92,000 times.
“Look at that,” TikToker Wes Lieberher (@burnttvnetwork) says. He shows the $7.29 price of the party-size Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream Potato Chips. “You’ve gotta be [expletive] kidding us, Ruffles,” he continues.
Lieberher places the chips back onto the shelf. “They’re not that good,” he adds.
But then he notices they are on sale. But Lieberher is not all that impressed with the chips’ sale price, either.
“Oh, they’re on sale for $5,” he says. “Y’all trying to kill us. I don’t wanna eat your chips anyway ’cause they’re bad for you.”
“I’mma get some healthy chips for $12,” he concludes.
@burnttvnetwork @RUFFLES y’all wild!! Food cost at .002%. $7.29!? #Ruffles #Chips #Inflation #expensive #chef ♬ original sound – BurntTVNetwork
Lieberher shared with the Daily Dot that due to his line of work, he’s always checking the cost of food.
“I’m an executive chef for a living so I am always looking at the price of food at work and when I’m shopping for my family,” he told the Daily Dot. “Chips have been increasing for years and even more so since the pandemic.”
He shared that he would be willing to buy Ruffles again but under one condition.
“I have a working relationship with a lot of chip vendors for my work and of course I would buy Ruffles if the price gets lower,” he said.
Ultimately, Lieberher said he believes a bag of chips should cost under $7.
“These big companies just need to do better by the American people. We see how much their CEOs are making,” he said. “I know the food cost [of] a bag of chips. It certainly doesn’t warrant the 7.29 price tag even if they are ‘party size.’”
The CEO of Frito Lay made over $7.2 million in 2023, according to salary.com.
The Daily Dot reached out to Frito Lay via press email.
Viewers agreed with Lieberher’s opinions on chip costs.
“They [used] to be 4 bucks. And that was too much, then,” one viewer wrote.
“Yeah that’s why I quit buying chips. haven’t bought Doritos or ruffles or any other brand name in a couple of years,” a second agreed.
“It’s a bag of air too that bag is practically empty!!” a third stated, referring to shrinkflation, or the act of shrinking a product and charging the same or even more for that product.
“Don’t buy them, make your own,” a fourth urged.
In a follow-up video, Lieberher responds to this comment.
“I’m a chef and I know how to make them and I’ve made them thousands of times in my life,” he says. “And I know you most of you [expletive] aren’t making your own potato chips. Stop lying.”
@burnttvnetwork Replying to @371butler thanks for the comments I appreciate you all! #chipgate #inflation #PotatoChips #Chef ♬ original sound – BurntTVNetwork
Homemade Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles
If you did want to try your hand at making your own Ruffles, though, there are various recipes online.
Popular TikTok channel BigEats, which has over 1.6 million subscribers, posted a tutorial that’s been viewed 54,000 times.
YouTuber BigEats starts by peeling and then rinsing two russet potatoes. He then uses an OXO mandoline crinkle slicer to slice the potatoes. For the seasoning, BigEats combines 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese powder, 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of onion powder, 1 tablespoon of buttermilk powder, and 1 tablespoon of salt. BigEats then boils the sliced potatoes, dries them, and plops them into hot oil to fry them. After they are done frying, BigEats seasons them to finish them off.
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