Lowcountry Kettle owners, Andrew Trumbull and Clayton Wynne, were working together at The Obstinate Daughter restaurant on Sullivan’s Island when the idea first arose to start a potato chip company. Andrew, a FOH manager at the time, was attending a managers meeting when the topic of potato chips came up as a possible grab-and-go item to carry at the property’s gelateria below. Everyone at the table agreed that chips would make a great addition for those customers looking for a salty snack option. The table also agreed the chips should be locally sourced. However, after a few blank stares and empty google searches, it became very apparent that no such item currently existed in the Charleston or South Carolina market.
“That’s when the lightbulb went off,” Andrew recalls. “I was pretty shocked. I couldn’t believe that there was not a single potato chip company in the entire state.”
When the meeting was over, Andrew went straight to Clayton, a CCU Business graduate and bartender at the restaurant, and asked if he would consider exploring this idea a bit further with him. Fortunately for Andrew and the local salty snack market, Clayton said yes, and soon the two were test frying chips at Andrew’s apartment with a countertop fryer, and mixing different spices together to create the perfect Southern blends. After months of trial and error - and a few wacky flavor combinations that didn’t make the final cut - the two eventually worked out the kinks and Lowcountry Kettle was born.