It is now possible to make perfect French fries with Indian potatoes (Blog on McCain Foods India)

This is a link to the Indian Food and Drink Blog of Vir Sanghvi. In this post Vir Sanghvi addresses McCain Foods India and some of their products.

An exerpt:

"Contrary to what I believed, Mr Narayanan was not just some import manager for McCain’s. He informed me that they actually grow their own potatoes in Gujarat and that the fries that McCain sells are usually 100 per cent Indian-grown.

I was intrigued enough to meet Mr Narayanan who turned up in my office carrying two sacks of potatoes. Yes, he said, when McDonald’s had first come to India and launched the search for the perfect fry, most of the potatoes had been imported from McCain’s global plants. But now, the company used Indian potatoes.

Mr Narayanan explained to me that while there are hundreds of varieties of potatoes in the world, only few are regarded as suitable for frying.

In the US, they are the long Russet (often from Idaho) while in England they prefer Maris Piper. Neither variety is popular with Indian farmers who use strains that are regarded as totally unsuitable for frying by all experts.

McCain set up a Rs 100 crore plant in Mehsana in Gujarat in 2007 and worked with local farmers to grow international varieties. But neither Maris Piper nor the Russet took to Indian conditions. So, the company’s agricultural scientists worked to find new varieties till they came up with two strains that thrived in India. Once they had the potato, the rest was easy.

Well, relatively easy, at any rate".