When Small Fry Snack Foods of Cambridge, Ont. bought an ailing Humpty Dumpty Foods, a company 20 times its size, from the Borden Company in December 1994, it was a real coup.

Small Fry, a $10 million regional company, had outplayed national companies like Cott Beverages and Old Dutch Foods, to suddenly become Canada’s number two snack food company behind Hostess Frito-Lay.

Small Fry’s launch next month of Humpty Dumpty brand Extreme, an innovative new line of potato chips, will show the industry that the company’s thinking continues to be bigger than its name.

Canada’s potato chip market is estimated at more than $900 million.

Hostess Frito-Lay dominates the market, with about a 60% share, Small Fry has about 25%, and Old Dutch Foods, which is strong in Western Canada, has about 15%.

Extreme may be the way Small Fry can take a bigger bite out of the snack food pie.

Lynn Benson, Small Fry marketing manager, calls the new product Extreme in every way.

‘Extreme name, extreme packaging, extreme flavors – and the chips are also produced by a different type of cooking process that makes them more crispy, so even the regular flavor [Extreme] chip is distinct versus a normal regular chip.’

Small Fry will start distributing Extreme the week of May 5.

A massive sampling effort, together with advertising support for the launch will begin in late May or early June.

Benson says because the marketing department of Small Fry is so small, the company has close ties with key support companies such as Toronto-based Glavin & Associates. The supplier might officially be described as a sales promotion house, but Benson says it works like an arm of the department.

Glavin designed the Humpty Dumpty Web site (www.goodmedia.com/hdcybersnaxx), which went on-line at the end of January. It also helped in the development of the Extreme brand and in-store merchandising material.

Len Meadwell, a strategic consultant and former senior vice-president, managing director of McKim/Baker Lovick, works with Small Fry to manage the advertising side of the business.

Meadwell brought in Capital C Communications of Toronto to handle creative for the radio commercials.

Benson says the radio spots won’t be about Extreme pastimes like bungee jumping, but will portray Extreme taste in a fun way.

Small Fry is making the new chip at its plant in Summerside, p