Ancient Crunch
Ancient Crunch Inc is a snack company that sets out to remake classic American snacks with traditional ingredients and methods, leaving out seed oils and synthetic additives. The company describes its approach as looking back to how these foods might have been made more than two centuries ago, and it says it uses organic (or better) ingredients grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
The company runs three brands. MASA Chips are tortilla chips made from three ingredients: organic corn, grass-fed beef tallow and sea salt. The corn is prepared through nixtamalization, a traditional process in which corn is cooked with naturally occurring minerals, which the makers say makes it easier to digest and makes nutrients such as vitamin B3 more available. Frying in grass-fed tallow instead of seed oil is central to the recipe. Flavors include Original, Lime, Cobanero, Churro, Blue and White.
The other two brands are Vandy Crisps, potato chips fried in grass-fed beef tallow with sea salt, and Golden Age Fats, which sells pure beef tallow for home cooking. According to the founders, MASA began because they loved chips but disliked the sluggish feeling that came after eating them, and when they could not find a chip made with ingredients they trusted, they decided to make their own.