Middleswarth Potato Chips
Ira Middleswarth & Son, Inc.
Bob Middleswarth founded Ira Middleswarth & Son, Inc. back in 1942. He started making potato chips with a single kettle! Bob worked in a two-room building off to the side of his family’s home in Beavertown, PA. At that time, Bob and his mother Lottie along with two other employees produced about fifteen pounds of chips an hour. The product caught on and more and more people came to recognize the special great taste and quality of Middleswarth Potato Chips. Bob’s father, Ira, later joined the business and by 1959 the company expanded and moved to a new location on Orange Street in Beavertown. The business then became incorporated as Ira Middleswarth & Son employing 20 workers who manufactured about 350 pounds of potato chips an hour.
The company continued to grow and in 1961 a new plant was built in Middleburg, PA. At that time Bob Middleswarth was named president. The company operated from a 40,000 square foot building and had 44 employees who manufactured 2,600 pounds of potato chips an hour. An addition to the plant was completed in 1974 adding a new fryer and packing room. Today Middleswarth employs an average of 90 workers. We manufacture 3,400 pounds of chips an hour.
The “& Son” refers to Bob Middleswarth, who was president of the company. Sadly, he passed away in November 2007 with Dave Middleswarth succeeding his father as president. Middleswarth is still a family-operated business. The actual name of the company is Ira Middleswarth & Son, Inc., but most people in the area call us Middleswarth Potato Chips.
Middleswarth’s trailers deliver to eleven distributors located within the state of Pennsylvania including Sunbury, Lewistown, Altoona, Harrisburg, Wilkes Barre, Reading, State College, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Sayre; who serve Central Pennsylvania dealers. If you can’t find Middleswarth chips in your area, they are conveniently shipped all around the world! Checkout some of the great products ready to order right here on this website!