Making History - Edition 2

Farm Frites
May 19
3 min read

Updated: May 19

Building works on the Farm Frites Potato Processing Factory at Dooen continue on schedule.

Whilst it doesn't look like a lot, the all-important Earthworks and Foundations are now largely completed.

With the Foundations in place the Steel structure of the building is now taking shape. The recent calm mild weather in Victoria has been a great help in keeping the Project on schedule.

PEOPLE

Our growing Agronomy Team now boasts 4 qualified Agronomists. The 2 youngest members of the Team are Juan Aguirre and Jaida Trigg, seen here harvesting Potato samples in southern NSW.

Juan Francisco Aguirre is a proud Argentinian, who was part of the Farm Frites Agronomy Team in the Netherlands before coming to Australia last year.

Juan has great expertise in the testing processes we use to fully evaluate the quality of Potatoes. Our results to date show that Australian Grown Potatoes are great quality and will enable us to produce excellent Fries.

Jaida Trigg is truly a local, having grown up in Bungaree and studied at Dookie Agricultural College. Growing up with potatoes, practically in the backyard, has enabled Jaida to make a positive contribution to the Agronomy Team from Day 1. She is looking forward to working with farmers across our growing regions.

Like our Agronomy Manager Daniel Grayling, both Juan and Jaida love being out in the Field, learning all the time and passing on knowledge to help in achieving better Crops for Farm Frites Australia.

POTATOES

We were very proud to recently see the first of our Farm Frites Potato Bins delivered, for storage of our Seed Potatoes. Made in Colac, these bins have now been used to store the Seed Potatoes for our first Commercial Crop, which will be planted later this year. Our Innovator Seed Potatoes are looking particularly good, which is very important, as the Innovator Potatoes that are harvested for processing in 2027, will be used for our best-selling Crispy Coated Fries and need to deliver the flavor and texture our customers love.

PRODUCT

One of the tastiest Product in the Farm Frites Australia range is our Sweet Potato Fries. Coated in our market leading Gluten Free crispy coating, these are a great alternative to traditional Fries. As part of a main-meal, or served as a side dish, Sweet Potato Fries are a great addition to any Menu.

Farm Frites Australia’s Head of Culinary, Geoff Meade, has been busy creating loads of delicious serving ideas.

It may surprise you, but our Sweet Potato fries, topped with Ice-Cream, Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce, work beautifully together as a Delicious Dessert!!

PROMOTION

In the lead up to the Snow Season each year, Farm Frites participates in the Jindabyne Trade Show, where businesses from across the NSW Snow Fields make their final decisions on what Products they will range for the busy Snow Season. This year Ian Kingham and Sam Laffy continued our great success at Jindabyne. So, if you are heading to the Snow this year, look out for Farm Frites Fries.

As part of our ongoing support for the Australian Hotels Association, we recently sponsored a Race at the AHA Race Day held at Newcastle. Brendan Tate and Darren Killeary represented Farm Frites and are proudly shown here with the Winner of Race 8, the Farm Frites 1,500m Handicap.

PARTNERS

Western Victorian Careers Expo

As part of our local Recruiting Program, Farm Frites is Sponsoring and Participating in the Western Victorian Careers Expo to be held in Horsham in late June.

The focus of the Expo is to present Career Opportunities to Senior School Students from across the local region. Farm Frites will have a Stand at the Expo, detailing the wide variety of Positions that will be available at the Dooen Production Facility.

There will be around 2,000 Students attending the Expo, with Farm Frites

Human Resources Manager, Mark Fischmann, aiming to talk with as many Students as possible, with the objective being to establish Farm Frites as one of the most popular Career options in Western Victoria.

INTERNATIONAL

Farm Frites is currently investing in a state-of-the-art greenfield frozen French Fry factory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The facility, located near Riyadh, will produce a variety of frozen french fries and specialty potato products.

In developing this Processing Facility, Farm Frites has leveraged the latest technologies and energy-efficient processes to ensure operations are both efficient and sustainable.

Having overcome the challenge of growing Potatoes in the Desert and with production just beginning at the Saudi Arabia Facility, the learnings from this project, will greatly assist us with the project at Horsham, which is a very similar Production Line.

Soon the Saudi Arabia Frozen Warehouse, shown below, will be filled with Farm Frites Fries, ready for Distribution throughout their local Foodservice Market.