Seth Rogen's Favorite Chip Flavor Is A True Canadian Classic

Canada has given the world more than a few pop culture icons, from actor-comedians like Ryan Reynolds, Dan Aykroyd, and Mike Myers to foods like poutine and Montreal steak seasoning. These two topics converged in a video by First We Feast featuring funnyman Seth Rogen, where he proclaimed his love for the Canadian classic that is ketchup potato chips.

Wildly popular ketchup chips are sold at virtually every grocery and convenience store in Canada. In the video, where he dishes on his favorite snacks alongside Ice Cube (with plenty of swearing), Rogen shares this is the chip flavor he grew up with, and pretty much every Canadian would agree. We're not talking about a niche flavor made by smaller brands, here; international companies like Lay's sell ketchup chips in Canada and the U.K., though you can't get them in most parts of America. Rogen states that Americans "act as though the combination of ketchup and potato is [...] insane [...] as though the most normal thing to put on a fried potato in the world is not [...] ketchup. That's what you put on fries."

Beyond fries, even dunking potato chips in ketchup likely doesn't sound that odd to those of us who have never tried ketchup chips. Ketchup was the third best-selling condiment in the U.S. in 2021, behind mayonnaise and ranch, so perhaps more Americans should seek out a bag. Just don't except these snacks to taste exactly like a spoonful of Heinz.

Ketchup chips are adjacent to another iconic Canadian flavor: all-dressed chips, a mysteriously-flavored snack that includes ketchup-esque elements in its taste. Plain old ketchup chips sound a lot more simple, and you might assume they ostensibly taste like the famed tomato condiment. But do they, though? Not really. 

Ketchup chips contain many of the flavor notes of ketchup — there's salt, some vinegar, a savory hint like cooked tomatoes, and that all-important ketchup ingredient, sugar — but it doesn't come together in a way that quite screams "ketchup." Maybe the difference is mostly textural; ketchup dust will never really resemble the liquid condiment, in the same way that Cool Ranch Doritos don't perfectly evoke creamy ranch dressing. It would be more accurate to say ketchup chips are "ketchup-inspired" rather than truly "ketchup-flavored."

Despite their lack of ubiquity across America, there are a few places where U.S. folks might find ketchup chips. Beyond online vendors, these munchies are sometimes sold near the Canadian border, particularly in the Northeast. And Pennsylvania-based snack company Herr's actually sells their own version. That Herr's connection is important here, because for all of Canada's obsession with ketchup chips, some posit that the Herr's version is actually the original.

We can't say where ketchup chips came from with absolute certainty. Some sources do claim that the Herr's version is the original, but while this PA-based product debuted in the early 1980s, the other contender for the snack's inventor — a Canadian company called Hostess — reportedly started selling the chips in the 1970s.

This isn't the same company Americans might think of, that being the Hostess snack cake brand (which has now been bought by Smuckers). This Hostess is a potato chip company that was also acquired by another brand, Frito-Lay, in 1988. In the 70s, Hostess decided to get wild with chip flavors, selling options like grape, orange, and yes, ketchup. The first two didn't take off (for obvious reasons), but the last skyrocketed to fame, and Canada has been ketchup chip-obsessed ever since.

The one leg-up that Herr's has over Hostess is that they officially collaborated with the most famous ketchup brand in the world — Heinz — to make Herr's Heinz Ketchup Flavored Potato Chips. Still, as stated previously, authentic ketchup flavor isn't what defines these chips; fans like Seth Rogen are what really made them a (decidedly Canadian) icon. Will ketchup chips ever get a stronger foothold in international markets? It's hard to say, but Canadian expats are sure to celebrate if this snack catches on in other countries.