The Cape Cod Chips manufacturing plant in Hyannis, Massachusetts, will cease operations in a matter of days. Cape Cod Chips’ parent company, The Campbell’s Company, announced in January it would cease local production in April 2026, idling 49 employees.
A Look Back at Cape Cod Chips’ Origins
Cape Cod Chips was founded in Hyannis in 1980 by brothers Steve and Jude Bernard, who opened a storefront on July 4, 1980. The brothers sold the company to beer maker Anheuser-Busch in 1985, but reacquired it in 1989, only to sell it again to Snyder’s-Lance in 1999.
The Campbell’s Company acquired the business in 2018.
Download the WBSM Mobile App Now
Lawsuit Raises Questions About Ingredients
Late last year, Justia Dockets & Filings reported that Rozaliya Ripa of New York filed a class action suit against The Campbell’s Company in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging “violations of state and federal consumer laws.”
The suit claimed Cape Cod Chips falsely advertised that the product contained “No Artificial Colors, Flavors, or Preservatives,” while reportedly containing “synthetic citric acid.”
CBS Boston reported that synthetic citric acid “has been linked to health conditions.“
Inside the Scale of Cape Cod Chips Production
In 2015, Cape Cod Life Publications reported, “Each week, some 750,000 pounds of potatoes are cooked into 190,000 pounds of chips” by Cape Cod Chips…