Farm Frites has temporarily frozen the project to build a French fry plant in order to determine foreign markets to which it plans to export finished products. About this to the portal journalist LS said the country's Ministry of Agriculture.
The portal informs that initially the investor wanted to launch this enterprise in the Zhambyl region on the territory of the Taraz Chemical Park SEZ. The plant was to be opened jointly with Farm Frites Baheer BV (Netherlands). The timing of its implementation was scheduled for 2019-2022. Capacity – 70 thousand tons of potato products per year. In 2019, it was reported that potatoes for the production of fries would be grown in the Shu district. In 2020, the investor's intentions remained unchanged, and the opening of the plant was expected in 2023. They planned to create 240 jobs. In 2021, it became known that they wanted to launch the project in 2024.
In March 2022, LS reported that proposals were being developed to locate a plant for $145 million in the Zhualynsky district. At the same time, the option of building an enterprise in the Taraz industrial zone was considered. It was noted that there is a possibility of concluding a priority contract. Capacity – 40 thousand tons per year.
And already in August 2022, LS wrote that the enterprise would not be built in the Zhambyl region due to a project for the production of sodium cyanide and problems with water. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture added that the issue of implementing this project in the Zhetisu region is being discussed with interested parties. And a foreign investor has already inspected a site in an industrial zone in this region. The possibility of concluding an investment agreement was also explored. As part of this document, it was planned to regulate the socio-economic obligations of all parties and clearly outline government support measures for the construction of an integrated plant for the production of French fries at Farm Frites.