Western-style cuisine has steadily turned frozen potato products into a fan-favorite, regardless of the region. This is adding to the fact that potato is a major staple, ranked fourth in terms of global production after wheat, rice, and maize. While french fries clearly dominate the market, demand for other types of potato products is higher each year.
The global frozen potato market is projected to reach USD79.8bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 4.0% from 2020 to 2027, a Insight Partners report shows. A surge in the foodservice market is encouraging the growth of frozen potato market in the major countries of North America, such as Mexico, Canada, and the US. Trade figures show a similar image: global trade volume is up 0.5% compared to 2019 and prices down 4.7% year-to-date. Segment-wise, when compared to the various frozen potato
products such as slices, dices, baked, etc., fries are likely to emerge as the top-selling frozen potato product. By the end of 2022, fries are estimated to reach nearly USD19bn revenue, according to Fact.MR. On the other hand, wedges are also
likely to experience growth in the global frozen potato market. Regionally, the US, Canada, and the European Union are some of the main regions responsible for production and export of frozen potato and related products. Conversely, the evolving countries in terms of production and export of frozen potatoes include China, India, Argentina, and others, owing to rapid growth in business of quick service restaurants. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the dominant shareholder of the global market in 2025, due to high growth rate of population and frozen potato products demand over there.
There is a range of machinery that suits very different applications, but the key is continuous production so the lines never stop other than for cleaning and maintenance – every hour not in production is a wasted resource, according to David Hallifax, head of the EMEA region within the Frozen Food Business Unit at GEA. “Typically a french fry freezer will handle 20 tonnes per hour, 24 hours a day, 21 days in succession before the process line stands down for maintenance and regular cleaning. Think about it – that’s approximately 10million, 1kg bags of french fries destined for supermarkets in one production run.
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