A message about the quality of french fry raw product will be introduced to the buyers for international and domestic quick-serve restaurants.
The United States Potato Board’s Domestic and International departments, following a lengthy research project jointly funded by the Oregon State University/Food Innovation Center, found that QSRs buying more expensive but a better quality frozen fry will come out better on the financial end of things.
The report released April 4, shows that testing was conducted throughout the entire process, pre-frying, during frying and post-frying steps.
The results show that a fry that was specified USDA Grade-A Extra Long and Fancy would provide more serving per case versus fries that were short, long, or a combination of those two.
In addition, there was significantly more oil used in the preparation of the short fries versus the Grade-A Extra Long fries. The oil usage was primarily driven by short versus long fry surface area, and not necessarily fry oil adsorption.
This value-purchasing story will explain how QSRs and fry manufacturers in a tight economic and competitive climate can improve their bottom lines by using and promoting the better fries. Buying the better fry will allow increased servings, less oil usage, and will deliver the message that “cheaper is not always better.”