RETAIL : Business Heats Up for Half-Baked Idea That Proved to Have All the Ingredients

Whenever Barbara Kent of Newport Beach threw a dinner party, she always noticed how her guests seemed to love baked potatoes garnished with the fancy toppings she prepared.

So she started her own business. She bought wagon-style pushcarts, put them in such upscale malls as Fashion Island in Newport Beach and the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, and called her business the Posh Potato.

Now she is carrying the idea a step further. With her husband, Steve, she has formed Fashion Packaging Inc. of Anaheim to create a frozen, microwaveable version of the Posh Potato. This is a do-it-at-home version of the fancy, elaborately topped baked potatoes that she sells in malls. The product, to be sold in supermarket frozen-food sections, comes as a kit complete with a single, prebaked potato in a plastic tray and three toppings. Its four versions range from a Southwestern-style chili and cheese to an Italian-style creamed spinach and tomatoes.

The frozen potatoes are aimed at nutrition-conscious, on-the-go consumers. So far, several major supermarkets are carrying the product, Kent said.