Bucks County snack-maker gets national boost

A local producer of an unusual snack—kale chips—has seen a boost in sales after an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. His Bucks County company has scrambled to keep up. 

Brad Gruno finally finished filling orders on Tuesday at the Pipersville headquarters of Brad’s Raw Foods, after a mention on national television in mid-November. “Today” show host Hoda Kotb brought up the snacks on the air.

“I was sitting there at my computer screen and the whole screen just filled up with orders,” said Gruno. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s happened?'”

When the talk show host said she would bring a bag to her next show, Gruno decided to bring a back-up supply of chips to the taping in New York City, just in case she’d forgotten hers at home. 

“Brad happens to be standing outside. That’s him. He’s on the back of the thing,” Kotb said on the air.

He makes chips by dehydrating various leafy greens. Gruno says the chips made from kale, the latest super-nutritious food fad, outsell all his other products. A believer himself, he starts off breakfast with a glass of kale juice.