Family expands Symphony Chips business to Wayfield Foods

ajc.com

The chips are stacking up for a metro family.

Dondre Anderson and his teenage daughters, Amina and Amari, have expanded their Symphony Chips line to Wayfield Foods.

So far, the chips are in one Wayfield location at 3050 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, but Anderson said that’s expected to grow.

“It’s huge,” said Anderson, who is focused on expanding the line from the internet to  more retail shelves. “The goal is to get in as many retailers as possible.”

The chips are also found in Cafe ULU, Sevananda Natural Foods Market and Urban City Market.

Related: Black-owned chip company is making moves 

"It’s motivating to have gained such a huge amount of support from not just Wayfield and their customers, but the community as a whole,”  Dondre Anderson , who lives in Gwinnett County, said in a release. “There is a lack of diversity in the mainstream food industry and my daughters and I wish to increase the presence of black-business in the sector, even if only by a little. Our inclusion, we hope, will encourage others in the community to pursue commercial success, regardless of the lack of representation currently present.”

Related: 13 black-owned restaurants to try in Atlanta

The idea for Symphony Chips began as a way to promote the Anderson family’s primary business, All A’s Spices seasonings.

Anderson, a software architect, said he used the spice invented by his father, Andre Anderson, a retired restaurant chef in Las Vegas.
"When I tasted it, I said we have to do something with this," he said. "It's incredible."

He started serving the spice mixture on vegetables and popcorn during consumer demonstrations but it wasn’t until he put it on homemade chips that people took notice.

As a base for potential buyers to sample the seasoning, homemade chips were used and were so well received that the family decided to establish a whole new product – Symphony Chips. The chips are gluten-free, all-natural, low-sodium chips to low-income, health-conscious consumers .

Symphony Chips, which currently offers one flavor, are gluten-free, MSG-free and all-natural. More flavors are planned. CONTRIBUTED BY DONDRE ANDERSON

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“I never expected that a little cooking in the kitchen with my daughters would turn into something much more than anticipated,” says Anderson. “Becoming one of the few black-owned potato chip businesses in the world is a grand honor, and I’m excited to have introduced my daughters to this level of entrepreneurship while during their youth.”