The Same Company Produces Both Idaho Spuds And Hungry Jack Hash Browns

If you're looking for a product that gives you an easy way to make hash browns without settling for the frozen kind, two brands stand at the forefront: Idaho Spuds and Hungry Jack. Both products boast "100% real potatoes" and are designed to be prepared in the same way. All you have to do is add hot water directly to the carton to rehydrate the potatoes, then finish cooking them in a pan. If you're loyal to the Hungry Jack brand, you probably don't mind paying a bit more for it, but there's a good reason you should give the slightly cheaper Idaho Spuds product a chance.

Though the packaging appears completely different, what's inside is exactly the same. Upon close examination of the ingredients label, you'll see both contain a combination of dry Idaho potatoes, salt, dextrose, and the exact same preservative, sodium bisulfite. Shoppers on Reddit have picked up on this similarity, suspecting that the two are produced by the same company, and as it turns out, it's true. Idaho Spuds and Hungry Jack are both manufactured and distributed by Basic American Foods.

Two different brands sharing the same producer isn't exactly unheard of. Costco brand Kirkland Signature is notorious for doing this. Its K-Cups, for example, are the same as the Green Mountain Coffee brand, and its tuna is supplied by the name brand Bumble Bee. This practice extends to other brands and products, including Basic American Foods' Idaho Spuds and Hungry Jack hash browns.

Selling the same hash browns under two different names has to do with profit. Consumers typically fall into two broad categories — those who prefer buying products with household names, and those who would much rather pay less for a similar product regardless of the brand or quality. By selling the same product under different names and price points, companies like Basic American Foods ultimately get business from both types of customers. So unless you really care whether your hash browns are branded as Idaho Spuds or Hungry Jack, you're better off getting whichever one is on sale.

Idaho Spuds and Hungry Jack hash browns may be produced by the same company, but at one point they were completely independent of each other. According to a now-archived page from the Idaho Spuds website, the company was founded in 1933 by two brothers who turned dehydrating potatoes into a profitable business. Hungry Jack, meanwhile, came about several years later, releasing its mashed potato product in 1967 before expanding to breakfast products like pancake mix and of course hash browns.

But while Hungry Jack and Idaho Spuds were founded at different points, they eventually came together under the ownership of food corporation J.M. Smucker before later being sold to Basic American Foods in 2010. Through the years, each brand has become a favorite among many consumers, most of whom probably have no idea the hash browns are actually produced by the same company.