This summer, Chester County snack maker Herr's again asked the public to vote for their favorite, locally inspired, potato chip flavor. After months of taste-testing and more than 26,000 votes cast, the 2024 Flavored by Philly winner has been crowned: It's Romano's Stromboli.
The family-owned restaurant that opened in 1944 in the Essington neighborhood of Tinicum, Delaware County received the most votes for the Special Hot Stromboli flavored chip, Herr's announced Wednesday. The other finalists, announced in June after being narrowed down from more than a thousand ideas submitted by the public, were Mom-Mom’s Kitchen Potato Pierogi and Talluto’s Cheese Ravioli.
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"All three of the contestants were great," said Ed Herr, chairman and CEO of Herr's. "I thought Romano's was especially excited and hardworking about the whole project; it just seemed like (owner Peter Romano) engaged his whole family and had people taking product here and there, and he was pretty pumped up. So they really won by a good margin."
The three finalist flavors had been sold in stores throughout the summer, and after trying them, consumers could cast votes for their favorites online. This year nearly 50% more people voted in the contest compared to 2023, according to Herr's.
"It reintroduces Romano's to a lot of people that may have forgotten, even though we've been around for 80 years," Romano's owner Peter Romano said about his restaurant's victory. "You never can stop telling the story or marketing yourself to the public. And (Herr's) sort of reintroduced us to a lot of people in the area. Philadelphia has responded very warmly to Romano's."
Romano's customer John Lishok submitted the idea for the Special Hot Stromboli chip flavor.
"I haven't been able to have any contact with him yet," Romano said of Lishok. "But you can bet that this gentleman is going to probably have all the strombolis he wants."
Along with the promise of a lifetime supply of strombolis, Lishok gets $5,000 from Herr's for nominating the restaurant, while Romano's wins $10,000. The runners-up get $2,500 each, while their nominators receive $1,000. Romano said he will donate the winnings to Mothers Fighting for Others, a California-based charity that benefits girls' education in Kenya.
Like Herr, Romano business has been in the family for a long time. He is the third-generation owner of Romano's Stromboli, which became the "birthplace of the stromboli sandwich" in 1950.
As the legend goes, Romano's grandfather, Nazzareno Romano, want to bake stuffed breads like the ones he enjoyed in his native Italy. Romano said Nazzareno saw how popular hoagies were, especially among laborers working along the Delaware riverfront near the shop.
So, he took a "special Italian bread mix" and added ingredients often found on hoagies – like boiled ham, capicola, cheese and peppers — and opted to leave out other that that wouldn't bake well – like lettuce. Nazzareno wrapped the meat, cheeses and peppers in in the dough, shaped it into a "log" and baked it.
The Romano's Stromboli-inspired potato chip was inspired by the restaurant's Special Hot Stromboli, created by Pete Romano's father, also Peter, in the early '60s. The stromboli contains ham, cotteghino, capicola, genoa salami, prosciuttini and pepperoni.
Provided Image/Herr Foods Inc.
After a public vote, Romano's Stromboli has won Herr's 2024 Flavored by Philly competition, which featured chip flavors based on local small businesses.
"The flavor was a little unique in that it had some of that meat flavor to it, where it actually really tasted like a stromboli," Herr said about the taste of the winning potato chip.
Romano and his 92-year-old father, who live in home connected to family's restaurant, were involved in the research and design process for the chip's flavor.
"The whole process with Herr's was an extraordinary experience," Romano said. "They wanted our input when they came to us with the first samples last November; my father and I sat down with them in our restaurant, and dad rejected all the flavors. He had an idea what he want the chip to taste like. And they allowed my father to contribute to the process, and they came back a second time with some more options, listening to what he wanted as the adjustments. We worked together and got the flavor down."
Even if the his restaurant had not won, Romano said the this summer has been a celebration, with appearances on podcasts and radio, chips giveaways at Phillies games and an overwhelming social media response.
"Herr's created a platform for us, for all three companies," Romano said. "They just said, 'here, we're going to put you up on this platform, and you run with it.' It was about the chips, but it was also about the opportunity to share your business and the experience with Herr's, with other people, and it's overwhelming. It's a once in a lifetime experience."
Romano's follows last year's Flavored by Philly victor Corropolese Bakery, the Norristown, Montgomery County business that won with its tomato pie-flavored potato chip. In the inaugural 2022 contes, Herr's did not require flavors to have a small business connection, and the Long Hots & Sharp Provolone flavor won. While the Romano's Stromboli chips were limited-time only and won't remain in stores past the summer, the Flavored by Philly contest will return next year to crown another local business.
"We're a family business, and we're in the Philadelphia area, so it's just kind of cool to work with other family businesses and remind people that that we're local," Herr said. "We love the Philadelphia flavors. We love the people of Philadelphia and the families that run the small businesses in Philadelphia. So it's just a blessing all the way around."
