Bart Diversifies with Frozen French Fries

“Like many other producers, we brought some brand new products to Fruit Logistica,” reports Jurgen Duthoo, sales manager of Bart’s Potato Company. “We launched the production of frozen French fries at our own factory. It’s a kind of natural evolution from fresh to frozen potatoes that helps balance trade and offers more strategic possibilities, because some years demand is high, and others, it is more profitable to process the potatoes. Our frozen potatoes can be stored for 2 years.” Established 40 years ago under the name of Lamaire, Bart’s Potato Company is family-run and specializes in potatoes of all types and for all uses. Their clients are retailers, wholesalers, food service and the processing industry. “Five years ago, we began marketing a new line of frozen French fries,” explains Jurgen. “We wanted to study the market and we found out that the market is not saturated yet, so we started production at our own factory. Commercial volumes will be available as of September or October, 2014.” Bart’s Potato Company exports its products throughout Europe and worldwide to the Middle East, Australia, South America and many other destinations. Their annual turnover in volume reaches 250,000 t of potatoes. NB