Jim Herr is Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and R&D at Herr’s, where he helps lead the consumer-facing side of the family business. A third-generation family member, he brings a deep connection to the company’s history while helping guide its continued growth, innovation and consumer engagement.
Founded by Jim’s grandparents in 1946, Herr’s has grown from a small Pennsylvania potato chip business into a nationally recognized snack company. Still family owned and operated, the company maintains deep Philadelphia-area roots while expanding its product portfolio and distribution throughout the country.
Herr’s is now primarily led by the third generation of the family, with Jim and two cousins overseeing different areas of the business. The family has put significant effort into succession planning while working to preserve values established by the founders, including hard work, trust, generosity and treating people well.
Jim says being family owned allows Herr’s to take a longer view, making investments and decisions based on the longevity of the business rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.
Maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset is particularly important as Herr’s moves through its third generation. Jim sees complacency and relying too heavily on “that’s how we always did it” as potential threats to a multigenerational family business.
Authenticity has played an important role in building loyalty around the Herr’s brand. Rather than chasing attention, the company tries to remain true to its personality, its roots and the passionate character of the Philadelphia region.
Social media has strengthened Herr’s relationship with consumers by giving the company more opportunities to listen, interact and involve people in product decisions. Flavored by Philly, for example, invited consumers to suggest and vote on flavors.
Consumer feedback can have a direct impact on the product lineup. After Herr’s repeatedly heard requests to bring back its Long Hots & Provolone flavor, the company eventually added the limited-time product to its everyday lineup.
Innovation requires accepting that not every idea will succeed. Herr’s uses research, testing and consumer insights to get products as close as possible before launch, then adapts based on what happens in the marketplace. That willingness to accept occasional failures has given the company freedom to experiment with bolder ideas.
Herr’s combines formal trend research with experience, intuition and entrepreneurial thinking when developing products. Jim believes some ideas are worth pursuing even when they don’t check every box in a traditional development process.
Limited-time products have become more strategic for Herr’s, with new flavors increasingly connected to partnerships, restaurants, events or themes. The goal is to create an experience and a little excitement for consumers rather than simply introduce another bag of chips.
As consumer preferences evolve, Herr’s is paying close attention to ingredients, alternative oils, package sizes and the impact of GLP-1s. Jim says the company ultimately focuses on what consumers actually want to buy, using listening and understanding to guide how its products evolve.
QUOTES
“Some of the things that we’re interested in and that we put effort against or spend money against are really about longevity more so than short-term gain.” (Jim)
“We put a lot of effort into the culture, maintaining some of those key tenets that my grandparents were so fond of and emulated so well, like hard work, trust, being good people.” (Jim)
“The inherent passion that you have for a family business, just because it’s part of what you’ve always done and part of your family’s legacy, you certainly have a drive there. I think that’s pretty special.” (Jim)
“Sometimes because you’re tied into the history of the company, you see complacency and the idea that that’s how we always did it. That’s what got us here. So that’s what we’re going to do.” (Jim)
“One of the things that I think that we do is really stay true to who we are, try to really be authentic.” (Jim)
“At the end of the day, we want to make a great, high quality product that creates a good experience, great flavor for consumers.” (Jim)
“We have so much more connection, so much more ability to connect with consumers and understand what they want. We can listen to them.” (Jim)
“You’re going to have plenty of new items that do well and you’re going to have plenty that don’t. We try to get 90 percent of the way there, all the research and insight that we can get. And then you just have to launch it.” (Jim)
“A little bit of the mindset of being okay with some failures from time to time, you’re not always going to hit a home run, has really kind of freed us up a little bit to try some new things and try some bolder flavors or bolder tie-ins.” (Jim)
“We like to always have just a little bit of that opportunistic or entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to new items where you say, this might not check all the boxes for all the processes and testing that we would do, but we think there’s something here.” (Jim)
“We’re really trying to create an experience, something a little bit more than just a bag of chips.” (Jim)
“That’s the key for us, listening and understanding what our consumers want, what their demands are, and then coming back and making sure that we’re representing that through our products.” (Jim)
