Ancient Crunch — the brand behind MASA Tortilla Chips and Vandy Potato Crisps — is entering the frozen food category for the first time with the launch of Vandy Classic Steak Fries, available exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Market locations nationwide at a $12.99 retail price point.
The move represents a meaningful category extension for a brand that has built its retail identity in the snack aisle. Vandy Classic Steak Fries launch in two SKUs — Original and Salt & Pepper — and are made with organic potatoes cooked in 100% grass-fed beef tallow, positioning them squarely in the premium, clean-label frozen potato segment that has attracted growing consumer and operator attention.
The Backstory
The product's origin is notable from a supply chain standpoint. Last year's potato harvest yielded a surplus that exceeded what Ancient Crunch could absorb for its chip production. Rather than absorb the commodity loss, the company's development team pivoted toward a frozen format — a classic operator-side decision to extract margin from raw material overruns. The result is a steak fry designed around the same ingredient philosophy that defines the brand's chip lineup: no seed oils, no fillers, no artificial additives.
Co-founders Seth Goldstein and Steven Rofrano framed the launch as a logical extension of the brand's existing flavor profile. "Our chips have always had that unmistakable french fry flavor, so making fries felt like a natural next step," they said. "We wanted to create a steak fry with a crispy outside, a fluffy center and the kind of real potato flavor that makes you want another bite."
Category & Retail Context
The frozen potato category is a high-volume, competitively entrenched segment dominated by legacy brands, but the better-for-you subset — defined by attributes such as non-GMO sourcing, alternative cooking fats, and minimal processing — has carved out measurable shelf space at specialty and natural-channel retailers over the past several years. Sprouts Farmers Market, with its natural-and-organic positioning and shopper base that skews toward ingredient transparency, is a strategically sound launch partner for a first-to-market SKU at this price tier.
At $12.99, Vandy Classic Steak Fries are priced at a significant premium to mainstream frozen fries, signaling that Ancient Crunch is targeting a consumer willing to pay for differentiated sourcing — the same shopper driving growth in grass-fed dairy, regenerative-grain bread, and seed-oil-free cooking fats. The tallow positioning also connects to a broader foodservice and retail trend around animal-based cooking fats reclaiming shelf and menu space after decades of decline.
For the grocery and foodservice supply chain, the launch is worth tracking as an indicator of how snack-first brands are using raw material flexibility to expand their addressable retail footprint without investing in entirely new supplier relationships. Ancient Crunch's ability to redirect a harvest surplus into a frozen product suggests a degree of vertical agility that larger frozen food brands — locked into longer procurement cycles — may find difficult to replicate at speed.
Vandy Classic Steak Fries are available now at Sprouts locations nationwide. Retail distribution details are accessible via VandyCrisps.com.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
