India: From importing frozen French Fries to now exporting, how contract farming is a win-win for both agri industry, farmers
India has emerged as a major exporter of French Fries, which owes much to companies procuring potato directly from growers and deepening farmer engagement.

In 1992, the American processed food company, Lamb Weston, began importing frozen French Fries (FF) for supplying to star hotels in India. The Canadian multinational McCain Foods followed four years later, as sole supplier to McDonald’s that had opened its first restaurant in the country.
As consumption of the crispy straight-cut deep-fried potatoes grew, so did imports – crossing 5,000 tonnes annually by the mid-2000s and peaking at 7,863 tonnes in 2010-11 (April-March).
But cut to 2023-24, when not only have imports practically ceased, India actually exported 135,877 tonnes of FF valued at Rs 1,478.73 crore. During April-October 2024, exports were 106,506 tonnes and worth Rs 1,056.92 crore.
This turnaround – from an importer to an exporter of a highly western fast-food product – has been thanks to opportunity-seizing domestic entrepreneurs, who also harnessed the potential of processing potato varieties suitable for making FF and cultivating them in India.
Fuente: indianexpress.com