The first tons of Russian french fries were produced at the new enterprise in the special economic zone “Lipetsk”.
The plant of the Belaya Dacha agricultural holding began operating in test mode in early December. For a month, the potatoes were sorted by size, washed and cut into strips, fried in oil and packed in bags. But the trial products were disposed of while the production lines were being adjusted, LipetskMedia was told at the enterprise.
Now the first batch of French fries has been received, which meets the technical specifications and Russian standards.
Serial production will begin in February-March. By the end of 2018, the company plans to completely replace the import of French fries, which are now imported to Russia from abroad.
Despite the anti-Russian economic sanctions of the United States and the European Union, the Moscow agricultural holding Belaya Dacha was building a potato plant together with the Dutch-American company Lamb Weston Meijer for only a year and a half.
The cost of building workshops, purchasing and installing equipment amounted to 120 million euros. Of these, 35 percent is the own money of the Russian agricultural firm.
After reaching the design capacity, the enterprise will be able to produce up to 100 thousand tons of French fries per year, processing about 200 thousand tons of raw materials.
At the first stage, the main consumer of the plant's products will be a network of Russian McDonald's. In the future, french fries will be supplied to catering enterprises and sold at retail not only in the Lipetsk region and neighboring regions, but throughout the country.
Victor Kamsky, http://www.lipetskmedia.ru