Teddy’s Tallow Chips is, at heart, a family story that just happens to come in a crinkly bag. The idea traces back to Katherine’s own childhood, when her grandmother suggested cooking potatoes in beef tallow instead of the newer industrial oils. Years later, that old-fashioned advice became the starting point for a snack that would help her son navigate life with food allergies.
A kitchen table idea
Years ago, when Teddy was a little boy, snacks were complicated. Foods that other kids ate without a second thought often left him with hives and asthma attacks. His mom, Katherine, responded the way many parents do when the grocery aisle comes up short. She went to her own stove, sliced potatoes, and cooked them in beef tallow instead of the usual industrial oils, looking for something her son could enjoy without getting sick.
Those homemade chips became a small ritual in their house. Over time, the conversation around health, ultra-processed foods, and seed oils began to shift in the wider world too. Teddy noticed that the simple, tallow-fried chips that had once been his lifeline now lined up neatly with what many eaters were starting to seek out. As an adult, he mocked up a bag with a friendly bear and the name “Teddy’s Tallow Chips,” then brought it to his mom with a suggestion: maybe it was time to share their family snack with everyone else. His younger brother Henry decided to join in, pressing pause on flight school abroad so the three of them could build something together.
Finding a home for the fryers
Dreaming up a chip brand is one thing. Finding a place to safely fry batch after batch is another. Renting a commercial kitchen can be prohibitive for a tiny startup, so Katherine looked for a creative workaround. She drew up a list of churches with licensed kitchens and started calling, explaining that this was a mom-and-sons company focused on cleaner snacks, made without seed oils, and committed to supporting cancer research at the University of Wisconsin’s Carbone Cancer Center through a share of their proceeds.
Most of those calls ended with a “not this time,” especially when the talk turned to fryers and hot oil. One congregation, Vineyard Church in Grafton, listened more closely. The leaders there saw a family trying to solve a real problem and liked that the business had both a health focus and a give-back component. They opened their kitchen to the Horvaths. Before long, that basement kitchen doubled as production floor and storage space. Local teenagers helped with tasks like bagging and seasoning, and Teddy and Henry’s dad even stepped in on busy production days. The brand’s first chapter was written there, surrounded by stacked boxes and church life.
What’s in the bag
On the surface, Teddy’s Tallow Chips looks straightforward, built on the kind of traditional cooking fat Katherine’s grandmother once relied on in her own kitchen. The team starts with non-GMO potatoes, slices them thin, and cooks them in beef tallow sourced from local producers. Once they are crisp, the chips are seasoned with short, familiar ingredient lists instead of the long, technical panels so common in the snack aisle. The recipes avoid seed oils, gluten, preservatives, and the nine most common food allergens, making the line approachable for many shoppers who usually have to say no to potato chips.
The use of tallow is intentional. Long before modern vegetable oils dominated restaurant fryers, rendered beef fat was a standard cooking medium. It handles high heat well and brings a savory backbone that suits potatoes. Unlike some heavily processed oils that can degrade quickly under high temperatures, tallow holds up, helping the chips stay crisp and taste clean. It also naturally contains fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K, which appeals to consumers who are paying close attention to what goes into their food.
Flavors with a clear point of view
The brand currently offers four flavors, each available in a standard sharing bag and a smaller single-serve option. Himalayan Salt is the minimalist of the lineup, letting the potato and tallow lead. Vinegar Vibe brings a bright, sharp tang for fans of classic salt-and-vinegar style chips. Summer BBQ leans on a carefully blended mix of spices to evoke backyard cooking and smoke without tipping into sticky sweetness. Jalapeño Heaven layers gentle chili heat with aromatics, with the spiciness balanced by bright, citrusy lime juice so the flavor stays lively rather than overwhelming.
For retailers and operators, the mix feels familiar enough to be approachable while still differentiated by the cooking fat and clean labels. The snack-size bags have proven especially useful for grab-and-go sets, airline programs, and micro-markets that want an option for customers looking for something more intentional than standard chips. And the portfolio is still growing. The family is preparing to introduce tallow-fried tortilla chips, extending their seed-oil-free approach into a new, highly snackable format for both retail and foodservice menus.
From church basement to national shelves
The first official production runs rolled out of the Grafton church kitchen in the spring of 2025 and headed straight to local farmers markets. There, the family could tell their story in person, answer questions about tallow, and hand out samples. Shoppers responded quickly. Before long, small regional grocers were placing orders, and the brand began to appear in well-known Wisconsin banners like Outpost, Sendik’s, and Piggly Wiggly.
As demand grew, so did the logistical strain. Cases of chips began to crowd hallways, and it became clear that the church kitchen could not accommodate the next phase. The Horvaths partnered with a co-manufacturer in Burlington, Iowa, allowing them to scale production while maintaining their standards for ingredients and process. That capacity opened doors to broader distribution. Today, Teddy’s Tallow Chips is stocked in just under 4,000 retailers nationwide, including recent national launches at HomeGoods, Marshalls, and T.J. Maxx, along with Woodman’s and other key regional banners. A partnership with natural and specialty distributor KeHE has placed the brand in several of its distribution centers, making it easier for new accounts across the country to bring the line in.
Even with that growth, the family still spends time at markets and local events. They continue to treat face-to-face conversations as part of their marketing plan, not a relic of the early days.
Why it resonates with today’s buyers
For buyers, chefs, and bar managers looking for snacks that align with current conversations around wellness and transparency, Teddy’s Tallow Chips checks several boxes at once. The products speak to guests avoiding seed oils and major allergens, but they do it with an ingredient list that reads like a home pantry. The story behind the brand is not focus-grouped. It is a lived experience shaped by a child’s medical needs, a mother’s persistence, and a community’s willingness to lend a kitchen.
In an era where many diners quietly turn a bag over before they open it, a chip that leads with potatoes, tallow, and spices can feel almost surprising. For the Horvath family, it is simply the most honest way they know to cook.
For wholesale, retail, or foodservice inquiries and samples, visit https://teddystallowchips.com to connect with the Teddy’s Tallow Chips team.
