Leawood woman maintains regional flavor with Guy’s Snacks

Guy’s Snacks has seen quite a few changes since Guy and Francis Caldwell started the company in 1938. Originally Guy’s Nut and Candy Co., the business known particularly for its BBQ-flavored potato chips has seen a world war, a bankruptcy and changes in public tastes in its 78-year history.

Like most potato chip companies, Guy’s started as a mom-and-pop business, said Janine Joslin of Leawood, who has owned the brand since 2007. It was at one time, a $100 million company with a big plant in Liberty, she said, but after a succession of owners the original company went bankrupt in 1999.

Now Guy’s production is in Lenexa and its distribution is regional. The chips, pretzels and snack mix can be found in grocery stores, and through the company website.

“People recognize the brand. It has a good name in our region,” Joslin said.

Q. What is your distribution area?

The snacks are sold in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma stores. But they can also be purchased through the company’s website. The website sales often come from people who grew up in the Midwest but have moved outside the distribution area, Joslin said.

Q. How do you keep up with changing concerns about ingredients and demands for new flavors?

“We bill ourselves as nostalgic and retro,” Joslin said. “Our flavors, particularly barbeque, are for the Midwestern palate. We like our barbeque. Farther north, they don’t like quite as much spice.”

Mostly, Joslin said she tries to stick to the flavors and products that have worked for Guy’s over the years. “This is what we do and we do it well,” she said.

Still, Joslin said her company and other snack food makers always have to be mindful of changing attitudes about ingredients. At a recent trade expo, she said, organic and non-genetically modified ingredients were the talk of the show.

Guy’s potato chips are all gluten-free, Joslin said.

Q. What is the next frontier for expansion of the brand?

“I feel like we could take Tasty Mix bigger. It has a unique flavor profile and sells well,” Joslin said.

Tasty Mix is a blend of pretzels, cheese balls, toasted O’s, cheese crackers and cashews that is highly seasoned but not hot.

However Tasty Mix’s future faltered last year when the new producer dropped out of an agreement to make the party mix, Joslin said. As a result, Tasty Mix was absent from the shelves for most of 2015 while Joslin searched for a replacement.

The product is back now, and Joslin has high hopes for it because it has been a popular seller.

Q. What are the biggest challenges you face?

Changing rules about product labeling pose some of the biggest hurdles, she said. “Every time there’s a new law we have to redo the packaging. Labeling for a small company like us gets very expensive,” she said.

Things are uncertain right now as companies await government guidelines on genetically modified ingredient labeling, but Joslin said small companies may have three or four years to comply.

Keeping a spot open for Guy’s snack food products on store shelves is another challenge, she said. “Frito Lay owns that aisle. It’s highly, highly competitive for a small vendor like we are. In my mind, we aren’t competing so much as hanging on by our fingertips.”

Still, the name recognition of a long-established brand does help, especially when it comes to nostalgia from people who grew up with Guy’s, she said. And there’s also been a move back to buying from local companies rather than national brands.

“That is where we are trying to have an edge,” Joslin said.

Q. What in your background has prepared you for the challenges of running a snack food manufacturer?

Before 2007, Joslin’s career was in running non-profit organizations. She was director of the Kansas Preservation Alliance, dedicated to the preservation of Kansas heritage. Her husband, Jack Joslin, bought Guy’s and had hired others to run it. Jack died in 2014.

Joslin’s experience keeping non-profits in the black has served her well in running Guy’s, she said, while giving her a chance to continue preserving local heritage, in a way.

“I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity to bring the brand back,” she said. “There’s been heartache, but also a chance to meet some wonderful people.”

IN A NUTSHELL

Company: Guy’s Snacks

Address: 7365 W. 97^th St., Overland Park

Telephone: (913) 871-3616

Website: http://www.guys-snacks.net/

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Leawood woman maintains regional flavor with Guy’s Snacks."