A child’s rare immune disease and a father’s background in chemistry are two of the many inspirations that led to the launch of Jackson’s Honest, a brand that’s much more than just a potato chip company. Jackson’s Honest creates potato chips and tortilla chips with just a handful of real, “honest” ingredients, most notably the one that Megan and Scott Reamer believe helped their son during his battle with Aicardi–Goutières syndrome — coconut oil.
While born a healthy, otherwise normal child, Jackson Reamer developed ultra-rare Aicardi–Goutières syndrome at less than 2 years old. This immune disorder, an inflammatory disease of the brain, caused him to develop with such weakness that he could not stand or feed himself. His intense stomach pains made it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, and he would only nap for a few hours at a time.
Desperate for an answer, the Reamers decided to focus on what they could change: Jackson’s diet. After experimenting with a ketosis diet that was high in fat and low in carbs, they realized that Jackson’s body responded well to the changes. He gained weight, began to play, and even slept through the night.
This is when the magic ingredient, coconut oil, came into focus. Scott Reamer worked full-time as a professional chemical engineer for investment banks including Bear Stearns. He put his education and experience to the test to try and determine the biological reasons for Jackson’s reaction to the high-fat diet, and specifically, the coconut oil.
In the process, Jackson’s Honest was born. The family began cooking more and more at home to accommodate their growing family and wanted to create special coconut-oil based treats they could eat between meals. The “low and slow” cooking method they use to fry up batches of Jackson’s Honest chips began right in the Reamer’s Denver, Colorado kitchen.
This process involves frying real potato slices in coconut oil at a low temperature, at a time that’s almost 10 times longer than traditional chips. This process helps ensure that the coconut oil, an essential part of the recipe, is kept fully intact at a molecular level. The low and slow method was initially created as a way to ensure that young Jackson could enjoy crispy chips and still stay on his low-inflammation, high-fat diet.
It was when friends and neighbors began commenting on the chips that the Reamers decided that a company might just be worth pursuing. Since their launch, Jackson’s Honest has developed 8 varieties of low and slow cooked potato chips and 6 styles of tortilla chips. Their unique flavors include classic favorites like Barbeque, Sea Salt, and Blue Corn, along with many more.
But Jackson’s Honest isn’t just about delicious chips made with one of nature’s most wholesome oils. Jackson’s Honest Charitable Foundation is a nonprofit organization managed by the Reamers that helps fund research and assist families in caring for children suffering from orphan diseases (conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people nationwide).
For this family, chips are about more than just tasting great. They’re about more than being healthy, too. For Jackson’s Honest, food is about feeling your best, working with your body, and living your best life.