Lay's expected to announce chocolate covered potato chips

DALLAS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- In a limited time offering, Lay's, the U.S. snack maker, is expected to offer Lay's Wavy Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate.

Lay's, the nation's largest salty snack maker, is expected to announce on Friday its plans to roll its chocolate covered potato chip that is scheduled to last from post Halloween to New Year's only at Target stores, USA Today reported.

However, Ram Krishnan, vice president of marketing at Frito-Lay, the parent company of Lay's, said if the chocolate potato chip is a major hit, it could become permanent.

"When you try something drastically different, you have to walk before you can run," Krishnan told USA Today. "We wanted to test our way through this before we go big."

The product, which costs $3.49 for a 5-ounce bag, might be the first commercially available chocolate covered potato chip, but smaller chocolate makers have been providing them for dozens of years. They are especially popular in the Midwest.

Mixing salt and chocolate is nothing new. There have been chocolate covered pretzels for years and Dairy Queen offered ice cream, chocolate and salty peanuts long ago, but this is new territory for Lay's.

Krishnan said if the product is popular the company might try other flavor combinations using dark chocolate, white chocolate and peppermint.

Over the past year, sweet and salty snacks include: Kettle Maple Bacon Potato Chips, Planter's Sweet & Salty Snack Mix, ConAgra's Crunch 'n Munch and even Sweet 'n Salty Bugles, USA Today said.

There will probably be more of these type of combinations. Fine cooks try to include Fat, Acid, Salty and Sweet -- known as FASS -- to unlock the taste of food. The acid is usually lemon or lime, but it can be vinegar and potato chips with vinegar have been around for decades.