Tater tot

A tater tot is a side dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes. They are widely recognized by their crispness, cylindrical shape, and small size. Tater Tots is a registered trademark of Ore-Ida (a division of the H. J. Heinz Company), which has become genericized.

History

The product was created in 1953 when Ore-Ida founders F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg were trying to figure out what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes. They chopped up the slivers, added flour and seasoning, then pushed the mash through holes and sliced off pieces of the extruded mixture. The product was first offered in stores in 1956.

Originally, the product was very inexpensive. According to advertising lectures at Iowa State University, people did not buy it at first because there was no perceived value. When the price was raised, people began buying it. Today, Americans consume approximately 70 million pounds of tater tots per year.

When the tater tot product was first produced, there was no name for them. The owners of Ore-Ida decided to hold a contest among the employees that would help determine the product name. Clora Lay Orton, then a young house mother, submitted the name "tater tots". The name was a hit and she won the contest.