From left, Rob Graham and Mary Anne Ketelsen of Mister Bee explain potato chip making at the plant in Parkersburg. Kevin Holden, the founder and CEO of Bite Brands of Atlanta, Ga., became majority owner around May 1. Ketelsen will remain as an owner. (File Photo)

PARKERSBURG — West Virginia’s only potato chip maker has a new business partner, officials said Monday.

Kevin Holden, founder and CEO of Bite Brands of Atlanta, Ga., became majority owner around May 1. Mary Anne Ketelsen of Parkersburg, who revitalized the potato chip maker since buying Mister Bee in 2015, will remain as an owner of the company. She was not immediately available for comment.

“We’re super excited,” Holden said.

Holden has been in the chip and salty snacks industry for more than 30 years and founded Bite Brands in 2018. He also is the founder and president of Hola Nola Foods of Gonzales, La.

Bite Brands is a private-label manufacturer and co-packer of potato chips, kettle chips, tortilla chips, pellet chips, extruded snacks and flour and corn tortillas. The company has three facilities that combined have 180,000 square feet of manufacturing and logistics space with facilities in Atlanta, Syracuse, N.Y., and in Parkersburg.

Kevin Holden

No changes are planned at the company, except Mister Bee has ramped up production through the additional business and the private-label contracts Holden has brought to the company, Plant Manager Rob Graham said.

Through Holden’s contacts, Mister Bee will probably work three shifts in July, Graham said. Mister Bee will increase its potato usage from 10 million pounds a year to 20 million, he said.

The increased production is through the private label contracts, the largest of those is Rap Snacks, Graham said. Rap Snacks, big in the southern USA, features rap artists on the covers including Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Durkio, Lil Durk, Migos, Boosie and Master P.

“They are just keeping us busy day and night, soon to be night,” Graham said.

Mister Bee has acquired another warehouse two blocks from its plant in Parkersburg where Holden is planning to add new flavors. Among those is a collection of all the flavors to create “kind of a sweet and sour,” Holden said.

An expansion of kettle-style potato chips should occur by fall, Holden said. Also in the works is a pepperoni roll flavored chip, he said. West Virginia is considered the home of the pepperoni roll.

“Since I’ve been in West Virginia, I’ve fallen in love with pepperoni rolls,” Holden said.

Holden met Graham and Ketelsen at a private label trade show in November in Chicago. He later visited the plant and wanted to become a partner.

Once in the thousands, the number of independent chip companies have dwindled in part because of the competition from the giant Frito Lay and difficulty in getting shelf space from national chains that buy smaller local groceries, Holden said. Among solutions is Brite Brands markets local brands to areas outside their region, he said.

“I think that will open a lot of doors,” Holden said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.