Yesterday, in the European part of Russia, the first large-scale plant for the production of French fries was put into operation in the city of Lipetsk. The plant is designed to replace the entire Russian import demand for frozen chips in the foreseeable future.
The production plant was built by a joint venture between Russian Belaya and the Lamb Weston / Meijer Group, a world leader in French fries production. The facility was subsidized by state subsidies. From the beginning, the French production in Lipetsk is said to produce deep-frozen goods, serving the rapidly growing Russian demand for golden bars.
Deputy Russian Minister of Agriculture Ivan Lebedev said at the opening yesterday that the plant is making an important contribution to serving Russian demand for domestic food.
In total, 8.7 billion rubles or the equivalent of 115 million euros were invested in the Pommes line, currently the highest in the industry, and 218 new jobs are to be created. By the end of 2019, the plant is to bring its full production capacity and then process 200,000 tonnes of raw potatoes per year.
Belaya Group is Russia's leading manufacturer of ready-made salads and vegetable dishes. It can look back on a 100-year tradition. Working with Lamb Weston / Meijer, which operates in more than 100 countries, the Russians are happy to gain the comprehensive knowledge of the global player.
The Russian market for French fries is growing at a breathtaking pace. The first customer for chips from Lipetsk is the McDonald Corporation, with which they now want to build a long-term partnership. It is hoped that other food chains will follow. McDonalds has been present in Russia for 28 years. The company has always strived to meet international quality standards in its restaurants, importing a lot of food if it was not offered in Russia. Chips from Lipetsk will replace import chips immediately, said the board of McDonald's Russia Khamzat Khasbulatov. With this plant McDonald would come on 98% raw materials, which are produced in Russia.
In order to be able to purchase the raw materials for the new plant in the appropriate quality, Belaya has set up a training company on a farm in the Tambov region.This farm will produce 30% of all potatoes for Lipetsk and has modern rooms for long-term storage. The rest of the potatoes needed to grow farmers from the region. One wants to conclude long-term delivery and delivery contracts. In the past five years, agricultural economists have trained many farmers into potato growers and bred several varieties that already produce 50 tons and more per hectare.
Source: Belaya / Lamb Weston / Meijer 
