Few items are as universal to restaurant menus as french fries. But few categories present as many options to purchasers. Major manufacturers offer up to 200 skus of frozen fries. How to choose the right potato for your operation—a fry that pleases fussy customers, differentiates your concept and works with your traffic flow?
“There’s a cut to meet every operational need,” says Matt Petersen, marketing manager for J.R. Simplot Company. While a QSR might want a shoestring fry that cooks up quickly, a buffet concept is looking for a thick wedge with a longer hold time and a casual steakhouse, a batter-coated potato that can be sprinkled with its proprietary seasoning, he adds.
Jay Wallsweer, brand manager at McCain’s, another major supplier of fries, sees a trend toward specialty products. “Sweet potato fries are the rising star,” he claims, “and specialty cuts [like lattices or loops] and signature seasonings are also going strong. “ These alternatives are especially appealing to casual dining, where more than one french fry choice is becoming necessary to stay competitive and increase profits. “Operators are branching out to offer a second option besides traditional straight-cut fries,” notes Wallsweer.
That said, straight-cut fries—either regular or crinkle cut—are the top foodservice buy. Petersen points out three characteristics that determine quality and affect customer response: length, texture and color. “Length is very important as it helps determine yield,” he explains. “You need fewer long pieces to fill up a container or cover the plate; a top quality product has more long pieces while a low-quality one is made up of shorter pieces.” Wallsweer agrees, adding, “if it takes fewer fries to make a serving, there’s more profit for the operator. And long pieces provide more perceived value for the customer.” As far as texture goes, limp and soggy are out—a cooked french fry should be crisp on the outside with a baked potato-texture inside. And a consistent golden color is the benchmark; light for uncooked fries and a deeper gold for cooked potatoes.
The quality of the finished product is impacted by delivery and handling as well. “Treat a case of french fries like a case of eggs,” Petersen advises. “If you drop the case, the long pieces break up and your yield goes out the door.” Inspect the case, too, to make sue there’s no damage or leakage. And make sure the fries don’t clump together in their bags—they should be free flowing without any ice crystals.
Now that trans-fat-free fries are an industry standard, sodium has moved to the forefront as a health issue. The major manufacturers are reformulating some products to reduce sodium and taking other health-oriented initiatives. “We’re also looking at bakeability—how fries perform in the oven—so we can cut total fat,” adds Wallsweer.