Canada: B.C. potato chip company finds identity in ‘new and edgy’ parsnips

It was only a humble parsnip, but Kirk Homenick and Pete Schouten fell into raptures. The much maligned root was just what they needed to help revive their troubled potato chip business. Four years earlier, they had bought Naturally Homegrown Foods and its brand, Hardbite Chips, from an experienced entrepreneur who had slowed down following health issues. Now the company “basically needed some piss and vinegar behind it,” said Schouten, who has several businesses under his belt. Production needed immediate attention. Hardbite had seven employees in 9,000 square feet and lots of excess production capacity. More