In 1974, Jack and Rosemary bought a snack food distributorship and named it Brookside Distributing. With the help of their sons, Bob and Tom, the route sales fleet soon expanded to five trucks.

In 1979, the Shearers wanted to offer their customers a better product and began manufacturing their own "hand-cooked" potato chips from a kettle. Production took place daily in a small facility on Harrisburg Road in Canton, Ohio. The potato chips were first sold under the "Kettle-Cook'd" label, packaged in one pound poly bags with a twist tie, then delivered from a warehouse located on Hills and Dales Road. Loyal customers were excited by the new Shearers product and quickly added them to their shelves.