Herr’s is back for a fifth edition of its Philly flavor fan vote, and 2026’s chips — like pretty much everything next year — is all about America’s 250th birthday.
The “Flavored by Philly: Taste of 250” will ask local fans of the Chester County company to choose three potato chip flavors that best celebrate “freedom, liberty and unity,” from nine curated concept flavors, with the popular vote winner for each of the three theme words going on store shelves for the summer.
“This special edition of ‘Flavored by Philly’ pays tribute to the bold, authentic spirit that has always defined America’s birthplace,” the company said in a statement. “Each flavor concept … represents an idea that helped shape the American story. Now, Herr’s is asking: What do those ideas taste like to you?”
What’s that? You’ve never deeply considered what freedom, liberty or unity taste like? You’re probably not alone.
Luckily, the folks at Herr’s have curated three potato chip flavors for each category. They assigned barbecue flavors to “liberty,” cheesy flavors to “freedom,” and spicy flavors for “unity.”
Again, don’t overthink it. Herr’s executive chairman, Ed Herr, said the categories are mainly about enjoying the flavors and feelings of the semiquincentennial celebrations.
“There’s really not necessarily a correlation with the flavor and the word as much as there is just people enjoying snacks and thinking about the fact that — whether we’re having a cookout or something like that — we’re celebrating our freedom, our liberty, our unity with this 250-year celebration,” he said.
The liberty category is seeking out the people’s barbecue choice between “Liberty Roasted Garlic BBQ,” “Liberty Hickory BBQ” and “Liberty Hot Honey BBQ.”
Vying for the freedom category are cheesy flavors of “Freedom Loaded Cheese Fries,” “Freedom Cheesy Crab Dip” and “Freedom Cheesy Bread.”
For unity, voters will pick from “United Jalapeno Cream Cheese,” “United Lemon Pepper” and “United Mango Habanero.”
Voting opened this morning and will run until Dec. 10. The three winning chip flavors will go on the shelves for a limited run starting next June. Herr said that the packaging will have a patriotic Philadelphia look to it.
The inaugural edition of the “Flavored by Philly” competition in 2022 pitted three fan-created Philly flavors against each other, with “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” winning the popular vote.
The next two years produced flavors paying homage to local spots suggested by fans. “Tomato Pie” flavor, inspired by Corropolese Bakery in Montgomery County, and the “Special Hot Stromboli” chip based on Romano’s original sandwich in Essington prevailed in the last two years, respectively.
Year 4 was a “Crunch Off” of the first three champions, in which “Long Hots and Sharp Provolone” emerged as the “Crunch Off” champion and will enter Herr’s permanent lineup starting in January.
Voting in the competition grew more than sixfold between years 3 and 4. More importantly, the taste testers at WHYY’s office have maintained a perfect streak of predicting the winner in every year the competition has run.
The company’s 2026 plans also include working in partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies, who will be hosting the MLB All-Star festivities in July. Herr said that the company may hold a “Freedom Fest” for its local community in Nottingham, Pa., too.
Herr’s celebration of the people of Philadelphia will be through the “Flavored by Philly” competition.
“Philadelphia has always been at the heart of Herr’s story,” he said. “Flavored by Philly: Taste the 250 is our way of honoring the city that continues to inspire our flavors and our fans.”
The post Herr’s wants Philly to pick the chip flavors of 2026 with ‘Taste the 250’ contest appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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