 "From importer to exporter: How India took over the French fries market")
Not long ago, French fries in India were a rare indulgence, confined to upscale hotels or international fast-food chains, and imported from Europe and the US. Today, French fries have become a major export commodity, with India evolving from a consumer to a key player in the global frozen French fry (FF) market.
In 2023-24, India exported an impressive 135,877 tonnes of French fries, valued at Rs 1,478.73 crore. Between April and October 2024 alone, exports surged to 106,506 tonnes, reaching Rs 1,056.92 crore, underscoring a remarkable milestone in the country’s processed food industry, The Indian Express reported.
India’s domestic French fry consumption is estimated at 100,000 tonnes annually, valued at Rs 1,400 crore. This includes business-to-business sales to major fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King, alongside retail sales to households. Yet, the country’s exports have now outpaced local consumption, solidifying its position as a key player in the global French fry market.
From imports to exports
In the early 1990s, India relied entirely on imported French fries. Lamb Weston began importing the product in 1992 to supply star hotels, and McCain Foods followed in 1996, catering to McDonald’s as the fast-food chain launched in India.
By the mid-2000s, imports had exceeded 5,000 tonnes annually, peaking at 7,863 tonnes in 2010-11. But over the past decade, India has not only ceased imports but emerged as a major exporter, primarily to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan, and Taiwan.
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Where does India export French fries?
Indian French fry exports are primarily directed to Southeast Asia, including countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The Middle East also constitutes a significant market, with exports to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman. Additionally, India’s exports have reached East Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan, indicating the growing global demand for Indian-produced French fries.
Ahmedabad-based HyFun Foods leads the sector, contributing 85,000 of the 175,000 tonnes of French fries exported in 2023, The Indian Express report said. Other significant players include Iscon Balaji Foods, Funwave Foods, ChillFill Foods, and J R Simplot, which operates a plant in Gujarat.
Potato production in India
India is the world’s second-largest potato producer, with an annual output of approximately 60 million tonnes, second only to China’s 95 million tonnes. However, the bulk of this production consists of ‘table’ potatoes for cooking and home consumption. These table potatoes are unsuitable for processing due to their high moisture content and higher levels of reducing sugars.
Processing-grade varieties are specially cultivated for their higher dry matter content, which ranges from 20-23 per cent, allowing for better recovery during frying. These potatoes also have low reducing sugar levels, less than 0.1 per cent, ensuring the fries retain a light colour after frying. Some of the key varieties used in French fry production include Santana, Innovator, Kennebec, Kufri Frysona, and Kufri FryoM, which are cultivated in regions with suitable agro-climatic conditions.
The efficiency of processing-grade potatoes is evident in their conversion ratios. For French fry production, 1.8 kilograms of potatoes are required to produce one kilogram of fries, the report said. Specialty products such as hash browns, nuggets, and burger patties are more efficient, with a conversion ratio of 1.5 kilograms per kilogram. Meanwhile, dehydrated potato flakes, which are widely used in snacks like bhujia and wafers, require six kilograms of potatoes for every kilogram of flakes.
PepsiCo and Indian farmers’ legal challenge
However, it is imperative to remember that India’s potato sector has also witnessed legal battles, famously involving PepsiCo. The company introduced the FL 2027 potato variety, designed specifically for Lay’s chips, and has faced disputes with farmers over its intellectual property rights.
In 2016, PepsiCo filed lawsuits against farmers in Gujarat, accusing them of cultivating FL 2027 without authorisation. The company argued that its rights to the variety were being violated and sought damages exceeding Rs 5 crore. Farmers, however, contended that they were unaware of these rights and had grown the variety as part of traditional practices.
Public backlash forced PepsiCo to withdraw its lawsuits in 2019. However, the dispute resurfaced in 2024 when the Delhi High Court reinstated PepsiCo’s registration of FL 2027 under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act.