Let me first start by saying, it took awhile for me to get my Flock Rotisserie Chicken Chips once I had ordered them online. But that’s okay. Why? Because the CEO of Flock Foods, Harrison Fugman, sent me an email to let me know there had been a delay in delivery due to high demand. Furthermore, I was given a special code I can use to get 30% off a future purchase.

This quickly launches me to my soap box about customer service, which there is a lack of in today’s society. Thank goodness this company understands customer service and values their customers. Good customer service can drive a company forward, and the reverse is true as well. I’m not sure why companies don’t get that… but thankfully this one does.

It’s also good to see a group of Millennials working hard to achieve their dreams, and with Flock Foods as a subsidiary of The Naked Market, which also offers Beach House Bowls and Project Breakfast, these entrepreneurs are working to change the marketplace, so kudos to them.

Now let’s get down to the Flock Rotisserie Chicken Chips. I don’t eat pork or snack on pork rinds, but I was hoping this product was chicken’s answer to pork rinds. Crunchy, salty, full of flavor? Yes, please. With only 2 grams of carbs per bag, no sugar, and 12 grams of protein, I thought I would be able to indulge in crispy deliciousness without any guilt. That is…. until I opened the bag and started eating them.

Sadly, my hopes and dreams of something crunchy and satisfying didn’t just go down the drain, but down the toilet. All of a sudden, I was taken aback by what I was seeing. Are those feathers? No way! It couldn’t be! Argh! It was!!

And wait, there’s more? What this? A cancerous growth? It’s black and disgusting. This particular chicken chip took me right back to my local market where I used to purchase chicken strips from their deli… that is until one day when I pulled a strip from the basket and it was black on the outside. I proceeded to open up the strip to examine it further, and the chicken inside was green. No lie! It was GREEN. And, yes, that was the last time I ever purchased chicken strips there again.

Going down memory lane in this way was not what I was anticipating. I was hoping for memories from my childhood when my mom would fry chicken in an electric skillet with butter and Crisco. She always took the skin off the chicken and fried it separately, and with three other siblings to fend off, it was a race to see who would get to gorge first on the crispy skin.

I know, I know, but it was in the 1970s. We didn’t know Crisco would clog our arteries and chicken should be baked instead of fried. We were just enjoying the simple things in life.

Unfortunately, these chicken chips have tainted that memory a bit. My mom was meticulous with cleaning the chicken. She always purchased a whole chicken and cut it into pieces, taking off the skin and rinsing everything to ensure there were no feathers or abnormalities. And this is what Flock Chicken Chips is missing – attention to detail, quality control, and quite frankly, my mom.

In trying to remain impartial and not just blast the entrepreneurial efforts here, I know my shipment of this product was delayed due to high demand and a backlog in production. So I’m wondering if that resulted in the low quality of the product I received. There’s no denying that consumers won’t continue to purchase if this is the quality of the product they get, but is this fixable? I think it is—but it will take rethinking the process. Figure out how to remove some of the grease, add some extra seasoning for flavor, and most of all quality control everything. The concept is good; it’s just the execution that flew the coop.

For more information on Flock Foods, visit their website. And if you’ve tried their product, be sure to give them honest feedback. A good company will take feedback (positive or negative) and grow from it.

What do you think? Would you give this company another chance? Is there any excuse for lack of quality control? Tell us what you think.