Candy bar inspired by Idaho potatoes sells three million a year

BOISE, Idaho -- Even the maker of the Idaho Spud candy bar thinks it's a little weird. But the chocolate-covered, potato-shaped Spud sells at a rate of 3 million bars a year.

"It's amazing; I'm not sure who eats them all, or if they all get eaten for that matter," said David Wagers, president of Idaho Candy Co.

No, the Spud doesn't have potato in it, though it plays off the popularity of the state's signature crop. It has coconut, maple, vanilla, cocoa that gives it its grayish color, and agar, a seaweed harvested in Morocco and Japan that has been an ingredient from the beginning.

It's thought the Idaho Spud got its start around 1901, when Idaho Candy came into being. The company's records don't start until 1918, when Idaho Candy was making more than 50 different candy bars for the regional market.

Wagers' family bought the company 21 years ago. Now it makes about 30 items, such as butter toffee and a peanut-filled Old Faithful candy bar, in the original factory. There, at a leisurely pace, hair-netted workers run turn-of-the-century machines with plenty of time to hand out gumdrops to passing visitors.

The design of the label hasn't ever changed, which adds to the Spud's nostalgic appeal. But beyond that, Idahoans seem drawn to anything that evokes potatoes, once a staple of their economic diet.

"It's what we're known for," said Louis Aaron, a chef who has trademarked the Idaho Ice Cream Potato, a potato-shaped ice cream dessert that's shipped to restaurants around the West and, Aaron says, was once served to the first President Bush.

The Spud is perhaps the most widely known of Idaho Candy's creations, and it's certainly the most peculiar. It has a mild maple flavor and a vaguely disquieting texture that Wagers describes as "a grained marshmallow."

Idaho Candy sells the Spud in 10 Western states and by mail all over the country. Some specialty candy stores in other states also carry it. Wagers said sales are most brisk at airport gift shops.

"It's a fun, inexpensive way to say, 'I was in Idaho,"' he said.

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On the Net

* Idaho Candy Co.: www.idahospud.com

* Kimmerle's Web site: www.bigtipscandy.com