The History of Tater Tots™
Tater Tots™ are one of America’s most favorite frozen foods, Every year, U.S. consumers eat roughly 70 million pounds of Tater Tots™. Tater Tots™ have even been featured in a few movies including the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite. The popularity of Tater Tots™ is not restricted to the United States, however. It is now being produced by other countries throughout the world under different names. Tater Tots™ are Spud Puppies and Tasti Taters in Canada and Oven Crunchies and Mashtags in the United Kingdom. Tater Tots™ are produced as far away as Korea, where they are called Mat-gamja…..and to think, it all started in Ontario, Oregon!
From Humble Beginnings
The Grigg Brothers, Nephi (1913-1995) and Theodore Golden (1911-1991) Grigg grew up on a small farm near Nampa, Idaho. They were two of 13 children, born to a poor Mormon family. In 1935, the brothers moved to a farm near Vale, Oregon, and by 1940, they had formed the Griggs Brothers Produce Company, from which they sold potatoes and corn.
After World War II, the Griggs brothers switched directions and began selling their crops to a California company that opened a frozen food plant near Ontario. That company subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 1950. The brothers believed that frozen foods were the future and took advantage of the situation. They formed the Oregon Frozen Foods Company and leased the Ontario facility from the defunct California company. Soon, they were producing and selling French fries and frozen corn. Then, in 1952, with the help of local investors, the Griggs brothers purchased the plant and formed Ore-Ida Potato Products, with their name “Ore-Ida” combining the first parts of the states Oregon and Idaho.
Tater Tots™ Are Born
Early on, Ore-Ida mechanically separated fries from leftover potato scraps by using a redesigned prune sorter. At first, those scraps were sold as cattle feed, but Nephi Grigg wasn’t happy doing so. He thought that too much effort was put into those potatoes to just eliminate the scraps as feed. Due to this, he and Theodore began experimenting with the potato scraps. They mixed the scraps with seasonings and flour, created a slurry, and then extruded the potato slurry through holes in a plywood board. They then blanched, quick fried, and froze the results into nuggets…..and Tater Tots™ were born!
In 1954, Nephi Grigg took fifteen-pounds of their new invention to the National Potato Convention in Miami Beach. From there, he persuaded the kitchen staff at the hotel to serve the new invention with breakfast. They were loved by all who tried them and were quickly consumed. There are differing accounts on how Tater Tots™ got their name, but one story states that they were named by Clora Lay Orton, an Ore-Ida employee, when the factory had a naming contest.
Tater Tots™ Take Off!
Tater Tots™ first hit grocery store shelves in 1956, but were not well received when they first came out. People were skeptical about a product made from potato scraps, and their low price also turned people off. That skepticism was forgotten, however, when the price of Tater Tots™ was increased and it became a premium product.
Within four short years, Ore-Ida sold its Tater Tots™ throughout the United States and into Canada, and Ore-Ida itself had gone from being an unknown frozen food brand to selling 25% of the frozen potatoes in the U.S. In 1961, because of the demand, Ore-Ida opened a second plant near Burley, Idaho, and in 1961, Ore-Ida became a publically sold company, selling 200,000 shares of stock to 3,500 investors.
Under New Ownership
One year after Ore-Ida went public, in 1965, the Grigg brothers sold Ore-Ida to H.J. Heinz for $30 million, which is approximately $287 million today. The brothers stayed on with the company for a few years after the sale, but soon chose to retire. Heinz then merged with Kraft Foods in 2015. Then, in 2022, the original Ore-Ida plant was sold to the local frozen food competitor, J.R. Simplot. Simplot continues to produce the Ore-Ida products, including Tator Tots™, under a contract they have with Kraft Heinz.
Revitalize Ontario held its first Tator Tots™ Festival in Ontario in 2021 and will have the 4th annual celebration this year on September 20-21, 2024. We look forward to seeing you at the event to celebrate the birthpace of Tater Tots™.
Information for this Tater Tots™ History article came from “Tater Tots™ and Ore-Ida Foods Co” by Jim Scheppke, published by the Oregon Encyclopedia. Additional facts were found on Wikipedia.