WILDE Chips Review

Avatar for TNI Editorial Team
Written by Cambria Glosz
SHARE

This post contains links through which we may earn a small commission should you make a purchase from a brand. This in no way affects our ability to objectively critique the products and brands we review.

dr jennifer hughes

Dr. Jennifer Hughes, MD
Medical Reviewer

Evidence Based Research To fulfill our commitment to bringing our audience accurate and insightful content, our expert writers and medical reviewers rely on carefully curated research.
Read Our Editorial Policy

Our Rating: A-

WILDE Chips earns an overall A- for their delicious and innovative protein chips (made from chicken breast, egg white, and bone broth), rapid customer service responses, and potential impact on elevating public nutrition.

We determined this rating by evaluating the following factors:

  • Quality
    i
    QualityA
    Great taste, quality ingredient formulation, and facility and product certifications led us to award WILDE Chips with an “A” grade.
A
  • Transparency
    i
    TransparencyB+
    Some areas on the site could stand to gain a bit more detail, but WILDE did an above-average job in our interview sharing information about sourcing, manufacturing, and the brand overall, earning them a B+.
B+
  • Website Experience
    i
    Website ExperienceA
    With a simple, clean design, helpful accessibility features, and an interactive e-commerce experience, WILDE earns an A in this category.
A
  • Customer Service
    i
    Customer ServiceA-
    WILDE’s customer service team was quick and helpful when responding to an order issue via email, and their case-by-case refund policy is welcomed.
A-
  • Value
    i
    ValueA-
    Despite their high price point per bag, WILDE Chips gets an A- for value due to their reasonable cost compared to competitors and high value for low-carb eaters.
A-
  • Brand Value
    i
    Brand ValueA-
    Considering their highly innovative product and disruption to the protein chip industry, WILDE gets an A- for brand value—with a slight docking for lack of charitable or sustainability measures.
A-
Our Editorial Policy

Get 15% off your order of WILDE Chips with code:

Welcome to our WILDE Chips review!

The term “chicken chips” may throw off all but the most carnivorous of us, but trust us when we say you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the potato chip-like consistency of these nutrient-packed and delicious chips. 

With a macronutrient profile that lends itself to just about every diet (apologies to our vegan and vegetarian readers), WILDE’s protein chips are high-protein, low-carb, and, as they put it, have “unreal flavor.” 

In addition to their great taste and nutritional value, WILDE Chips also has innovative manufacturing practices to create their thin and crispy chips (just one bite will convince you), a high potential benefit to public health, and a surprisingly comparable price point to competitors, leading us to award them with an A- rating overall. 

Now, let’s dive into the details.

Buffalo Protein Chips
Buffalo Protein Chips
  • Description

    WILDE Chips are high-protein, low-carb protein chips with the classic crunch of a potato chip but none of the junk.

    These chips come in several flavors, and the Buffalo-style flavor pictured was our team’s overall favorite.

    If you like genuine buffalo-style flavor with a kick, this is for you.

Pros and Cons

  • Pros
  • Innovative and delicious products
  • Helpful customer service response
  • Certified Paleo and gluten-free products with a USDA Organic facility
  • Cons
  • High price point per bag
  • Email is the only readily accessible customer service channel

A Wild History of Making Comfort Food Better For You

What started as a love for potato chips—and an inability to not crush an entire bag in one sitting—turned into the delightfully crispy and just slightly chicken-flavored chips that we know today. 

After talking with co-founder/CEO Jason Wright, VP of Sales Mike Senn, and Director of Sales John Culver, we learned about the wild (sorry, had to) trajectory of WILDE so far.

wilde chips booth at expo east 2022
Mike Senn at Expo East 2022

From their beginnings as a meat-based protein bar in 2015, to a factory snafu when trying to use a pork rind facility to make their protein chips, to today’s success with five—and counting—flavors that are sold nationwide, WILDE has definitely put in the work to make their company succeed. 

As Jason tells us about making the pivot from the original meat-based protein bars to protein chips, “I had this eureka moment, thinking, ‘How do I save WILDE? How do we pivot?’ And I was crushing this bag of chips, and I can remember getting to the bottom of the bag and saying, ‘Wow, what if I could replace the potato with chicken breast?’” 

And the rest is history! 

jason wright co-founder of wilde chips
Co-founder and CEO Jason Wright (source: LinkedIn)

Well, a few other things happened first, like getting help with R&D from the meat science department at Colorado State University, creating a prototype for crisping, and building the 100,000-square-foot facility in Lexington, Kentucky, where they still are today. 

Comfort food doesn’t have to equal junk food.

Jason Wright, Co-founder and CEO of WILDE Chips

As Jason states, “Comfort food doesn’t have to equal junk food,” and we completely agree, as evidenced by our inability to stop crushing bag after bag—even months after we first tried them at Expo East 2022, much of our team is still addicted to these reinvented potato chips. 

Our Review

Each brand we review is graded according to this set of six factors—here’s how WILDE Chips scored to earn an overall A-

  • Quality (A)
  • Transparency (B+)
  • Website Experience (A)
  • Customer Service (A-)
  • Value (A-)
  • Brand Value (A-)

Quality

Summary:

Grade: A

Great taste, quality ingredient formulation, and facility and product certifications led us to award WILDE Chips with an “A” grade.

Quality is an obviously critical aspect of any food brand—and WILDE Chips has it in spades. 

With their brightly colored, easy-to-open bags stating the prominent ingredients right on the front, we had no issues with their packaging or labeling. 

Moving to the back of the bag, the nutritional value of WILDE Chips is also top tier, with each serving of 20 chips (yes, 20!) providing:

  • 170 calories
  • 10g of fat
  • 8g of carbohydrates
  • 3g of fiber
  • <1g of sugar
  • 10g of protein 

The main ingredients of WILDE Chips are all-natural and antibiotic-free chicken breast, plus egg whites, bone broth, and tapioca starch. 

Other ingredients include high-oleic sunflower with natural flavors, citric acid, and spices. 

Overall, the nutritional quality is good—especially when compared to a traditional potato chip

WILDE Chips also is certified gluten-free and paleo-friendly.

From our interview with Jason, John, and Mike, we learned more about the sourcing and manufacturing of WILDE Chips, including that they partner with Whole Foods and mainly get their antibiotic-free, all-natural chicken from Coleman Naturals. 

The manufacturing of WILDE Chips took some trial and error to get right, as their goal from day one was to make a product that crunched like a traditional potato chip—but there wasn’t any equipment on the market to get the job done right.

So they created it themselves.

Although much of their processes are proprietary, we learned that the chips are made by thin-slicing or shearing the chicken and crisping it—just enough to get the moisture out and create the perfectly crispy and crunchable texture. 

Now, let’s take a closer look at a couple of top-selling flavors of WILDE’s protein chips. 

Protein Chips

Although WILDE was born in Boulder, Colorado, their move to Kentucky lent itself to producing Southern-inspired flavors like Chicken & Waffles, Buffalo, and Nashville Hot—but they also have Himalayan Pink Salt and Salt & Vinegar for the purists out there. 

Himalayan Pink Salt Protein Chips
Himalayan Pink Salt Protein Chips
  • Description

    Just like a traditional salty potato chip—without the potatoes—this flavor is a low-carb, protein-packed chip made with 100% all-natural chicken breast.

  • Ingredients

    Antibiotic-Free Chicken Breast, Native Tapioca Starch, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Egg Whites, Chicken Bone Broth, Modified Tapioca Starch. Contains less than 2% of: Himalayan Pink Salt, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Citric Acids, Spices, Tapioca Syrup Solids.

Chicken & Waffles Protein Chips
Chicken & Waffles Protein Chips
  • Description

    For those salty-sweet lovers, this chip gives you all of the flavors of chicken and waffles without the excess carbs and subsequent post-brunch food coma.

  • Ingredients

    Antibiotic-Free Chicken Breast, Native Tapioca Starch, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Egg Whites, Chicken Bone Broth, Modified Tapioca Starch, Sugar. Contains less than 2% of: Maple Sugar, Sea Salt, Spices, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin.

If sweet-and-savory isn’t your jam, you can also try out WILDE’s Salt & Vinegar, Nashville Hot, or Buffalo chips—and keep your eyes peeled for some exciting new flavors coming soon. 

Transparency

Summary:

Grade: B+

Some areas on the site could stand to gain a bit more detail, but WILDE did an above-average job in our interview sharing information about sourcing, manufacturing, and the brand overall, earning them a B+.

A brand’s transparency comes from several different factors, including details about sourcing and manufacturing, who’s who in the company, and shipping and return policies. 

WILDE Chips provides transparent shipping and return policies, which we found easily on the website. 

Their website also offers easily accessible information about the nutrition facts and ingredients in each product, which is always appreciated. 

Where we wish we saw a bit more detail was in the details about sourcing—specifically, where the animal products (chicken breast, egg whites, and bone broth) are coming from and how the animals are raised and treated. 

Although there was a glimpse of this information on their website, which states that they “promise to use natural meats raised in humane and environmentally safe environments,” consumers may also like to learn what we did in our interview—the fact that they primarily source from Coleman Naturals, and the standards that they uphold.

And, while we got great information about Jason’s founding story in our interview and on the site, we always love to be able to learn more about who else is currently involved in the company and what their roles are.

unnamed 5 1

Website Experience

Summary:

Grade: A

With a simple, clean design, helpful accessibility features, and an interactive e-commerce experience, WILDE earns an A in this category.

With just a handful of products to choose from (in various sizes or bundling options), WILDE’s website is simple, clean, and easy to navigate. 

Plus, it contains easy-to-find adjustments to increase inclusivity and accessibility—just click the little blue man in the bottom right corner—including for those with vision impairment, ADHD, seizures, cognitive disabilities, and more. 

We especially appreciated the “Build Your Box” section—who doesn’t love an interactive shopping experience?

unnamed 6 3

Overall, the website is straightforward and left little to be desired, including a blog with a few articles and recipes—we especially enjoyed the article “Did Thomas Jefferson Invent Chicken & Waffles?”—earning them a solid A in this category. 

Customer Service

Summary:

Grade: A-

WILDE’s customer service team was quick and helpful when responding to an order issue via email, and their case-by-case refund policy is welcomed.

From shipping and return policies to the responsiveness and accommodation of customer service, we gave WILDE an A- in customer service. 

Unlike many food brands, WILDE offers refunds and/or replacements on opened products on a case-by-case basis—and they don’t accept returns, meaning you’d get to keep the product. 

This was seen firsthand by one of our team members, who received the wrong product in one of his orders. 

Upon sending an email to customer service in the evening, outside of their regular support hours—their only easily accessible service channel, by the way—he received a reply early the next morning, and a new box with the correct product was shipped out. 

While the response was speedy and helpful, we had to slightly ding for sending the incorrect product in the first place—but, we get it, mistakes happen to everybody.

On a separate day, we received a reply to a product-related question within about 6 business hours. 

As mentioned, email is the only available option on the “Contact Us” page, although some digging in the FAQs section led us to a phone number where you can leave a voice mail for “urgent matters.” 

Combining the quick email responses (considering their regular business hours) and generous return policies with the mistaken order delivery, WILDE gets an A- in customer service.

Value

Summary:

Grade: A-

Despite their high price point per bag, WILDE Chips gets an A- for value due to their reasonable cost compared to competitors and high value for low-carb eaters.

The value of a product is not simply based on the price itself—we also take into account the quality of ingredients relative to the price and how similar products are priced by competitors.

It’s safe to say that awarding an A- for WILDE’s chips was unexpected from our team—with each bag costing about $5, we had definitely predicted a lower grade. 

But WILDE won out when we dug into the pricing of their competitors—of which there are none doing exactly what WILDE is doing with their protein chips. 

When compared to brands like Flock, who use chicken skin to make a pork rind-like chip, or Quest, which uses a protein powder blend, WILDE was the winner when factoring in ingredient quality and value (after all, protein powder is far less expensive than all-natural chicken breast).

However, we have to recognize that many people might not be able to regularly purchase $5 bags of chips—especially when there are only two servings per large bag—which contributed to our decision of an A- rating.

Although it’s difficult to compare these different protein-packed products, let’s take a closer look at how WILDE’s pricing stacks up at the time of this publication—with the addition of some healthier potato chips, for good measure.

Brand Price per ounce
Siete Potato Chips $1.00 per ounce*
WILDE Protein Chips $2.22 per ounce*
Quest Protein Chips $2.27 per ounce*
Flock Chicken Skin Chips $3.63 per ounce*
*Prices are accurate at time of publication and are based on suggested retail price.

Weighing these prices against the quality of ingredients, we award WILDE Chips with an A- for value.

Brand Value

Summary:

Grade: A-

Considering their highly innovative product and disruption to the protein chip industry, WILDE gets an A- for brand value—with a slight docking for lack of charitable or sustainability measures.

Lastly, brand value scores are considered by a combination of product innovation, industry disruption, impact on public health, and philanthropic or sustainability efforts. 

While we didn’t glean any information about sustainable practices, we learned about their goals to be involved in the fight against childhood diabetes and obesity in the upcoming year—although we don’t give points for preemptive efforts, it’s good to know they’ve been thinking about it. 

But, where WILDE got most of their points for this category came from how they disrupted the low-carb snack sector.

Make your own way. We had to do that with WILDE—this product didn’t exist—and I became just obsessed with it… it didn’t matter how many times I was told no… I believed in the product so much that I kept trying no matter how many brick walls I ran into; I never gave up.

Jason Wright, Co-founder and CEO of WILDE Chips

Before WILDE, the only low-carb, high-protein chip to be found was made of protein powder—and the taste is night-and-day different, to say the least. 

Combined with the potential impact on public health—imagine if everyone switched from high-carb chips to these?—and their continual innovation of new flavors (there’s a couple we can’t wait for), we rated WILDE with an A- in this category. 

However, while we know WILDE is still a growing company, we’d love to see them step up with some sustainability measures and charitable contributions.  

Our WILDE Chips Experience

Our team has sampled every flavor of protein chip that WILDE has to offer—many times over, actually. 

Beginning with when we crowded their booth at Expo East 2022, chowing down on protein chips (in complete disbelief at how good they were) to the generous sample packages we recently received, it’s safe to say that our team has a new favorite snack. 

unnamed 14

Although we all have different favorites, the top two that stood out on our team were the Chicken & Waffles and Buffalo—plus, an honorable mention for the Himalayan Pink Salt chips, which are just as addicting as a salty potato chip.

unnamed 1 3
Opened this bag to take a picture… ate about half of them before the photos were even uploaded!

All in all, each of WILDE’s Protein Chip flavors was widely enjoyed by our team—we may never go back to potato chips again.

WILDE Chips FAQs

How Are WILDE Protein Chips Made?

WILDE Protein Chips are made by thin-slicing a mixture of chicken, egg whites, bone broth, tapioca flour, spices, and a few other ingredients.

The exact methodology and equipment used to create WILDE chips are proprietary.

Are WILDE Protein Chips Fried?

WILDE Protein Chips are crisped, just enough to remove the moisture from the chip. 

Are WILDE Protein Chips Keto-Friendly?

Yes, WILDE Protein Chips are keto-friendly, as well as Certified Paleo. 

Are WILDE Chips Gluten-Free?

Yes, WILDE Chips are gluten-free. 

Who Owns WILDE Protein Chips?

WILDE Chips is owned in part by Jason Wright, the co-founder and CEO of the company.

Final Thoughts

With attributes like high-quality ingredients, competitive value, industry disruption, and an addictively delicious product, WILDE Chips earns a solid A- from our team. 

A few minor details, like sparse information about sourcing and lack of charitable or environmental involvement, could be improved upon, but overall, we loved the chips and the brand behind them. 

Jason imparted some wisdom to us at the conclusion of our interview, stating, “Make your own way. We had to do that with WILDE—this product didn’t exist—and I became just obsessed with it… it didn’t matter how many times I was told no… I believed in the product so much that I kept trying no matter how many brick walls I ran into; I never gave up.”

And, we’re glad he didn’t give up—our world would sadly be protein chip-less without his drive and ambition.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *