Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | F | Frozen Food Digest

French fries driving globalization of frozen potato industry.

Article Excerpt
Driven largely by growing popularity of Western-style cuisine, particularly fast food via quick-service restaurants (QSRs), frozen french fries and other frozen potato products are generating billions of dollars in sales worldwide each year. Although precise worldwide production and sales figures for frozen fries are not available, global frozen potato production capacity is estimated to be at least 9.6 million metric tons (mmt) a year.

Worldwide exports of frozen potato products in 2000 (over 90% of which is frozen french fries) were valued at $1.9 billion. This export value does not account for the billions of dollars of frozen potato products produced and sold domestically in countries around the world.

The rapid global expansion of QSRs is key to the tremendous growth in worldwide consumption and trade of frozen potato products.

Beginning in the U.S. in the 1950s, the QSR chains of McDonald's and Burger King expanded rapidly. Expansion through the 1960s occurred primarily in the U.S., but these restaurants began to open franchises around the world in the 1970s. Early expansion was concentrated in Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.

Additionally, new firms such as Wendy's emerged and began expanding. In the 1980s and 1990s, QSR growth was occurring worldwide, surging in many Asian countries as well as in Latin America, while continuing to grow in the original markets. By 2001, McDonald's had over 29,000 outlets in 121 countries, Burger King had over 11,000 in 57 countries, and Wendy's over 5,000 in 34 countries.

Growth of an Industry

Rapid, continuing growth in the fast-food industry over the years has spawned growth in the frozen potato industry, first in the U.S. and then worldwide. Commercial production of french fries began in the U.S. on a small scale in the mid 1940s, but did not develop into a major industry until after the inception of QSRs in the 1950s. As QSRs expanded, so did the frozen potato products industry, with U.S. output increasing from 129 million pounds in 1955 to 3.9 billion pounds in 1980, and to an estimated 9.3 billion pounds in 2000.

Despite the industry's dramatic growth, ever-increasing domestic...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!