Top Editors ... Passionate about potatoes

Title: Passionate about potatoes
Date: 16/06/2006
Autor: By Maureen Byrne

Added value is the name of the game at Aviko, where the humble potato is turned into a wealth of convenient
and tasty products such as French Fries, Wedges, Mash, Sautées, Rosti, and much more

In the heart of the Dutch countryside, in an area traditionally known for its potato crops, an imposing factory that was
established 43 years ago has evolved to include high tech methods of production, and a culture of innovation that has
established it as the No.2 producer of potato products, with a 20% share of the market in Europe; and a 40 to 50% share of the home market.
Dick van der Aart, marketing manager and Dr Martin Keijbets, manager, innovation and product development at Aviko said “We want to establish ourselves as the total customer solutions provider in Europe for potato products. We started with chilled French Fries in the 1960s, and then moved on to frozen, and then to more specialist products. We now export more than 80% of our products across Europe.”
The pre-fried market is in decline, falling about 1.5% in volume terms year on year. “There are a lot of options that vie for ‘share of stomach’ now. Also, the economy has not been good in Germany. However, Central and Eastern Europe is showing growth, and nowadays 20 to 30% of the population can afford to buy pre-fried potato products in that region,” remarked Mr van der Aart. “We have a factory in Poland, and market leadership in the overall CEE region, and a big new factory in Bavaria, in addition to the five we have here in The Netherlands.”
This decline has also spurred the company on to develop new and innovative products, such as Steamfresh potatoes, which are treated by steam in order to preserve all nutrients and ensure that the texture is suitable for all types of preparations. Added value products such as potatoes with added herbs and other ingredients are now being offered. A full range of potato dishes has been introduced into the market, the latest of which is an Italian potato dish with added spinach, peppers, mozzarella, spices and salami.
Flavourites, French Fries coated with a light batter for crispiness, and incorporating a spicy Indian (black pepper & curry) flavouring, is a delicious new concept whichhas been developed for the Dutch market primarily that can be oven cooked or fried. They have been accepted by the retail trade well, with a starting distribution of over 70%, including Albert Heijn. Spicy Wedges are another new development, which answers the demand for ‘Tex Mex’ style products. Ready-prepared mashed potato has also been the subject of a re-vamp, in a convenient cylinder form, which has butter, pepper and salt added, and can be cooked in the microwave. “This is made from fresh potato, rather than the more usual dried potato base,” said Dr Keijbets.
French Fries designed specifically for microwave cooking have also been introduced, which use a new type of
susceptor to crisp the product while cooking. This is a patented device from a Canadian company, which uses stainless steel rather than aluminium in the susceptor.
Potatoes used in the production process are specially selected for the qualities required for each application. “We do not breed potatoes ourselves, but we work closely with breeders, and use five varieties for different products; with varying size, sugar content etc,” said Dr Keijbets. “With 0.5 million tonnes of potatoes processed each year on this particular site, it is very important that the factory operates as efficiently as possible,” said Dr Keijbets. “We are constantly looking into new processing techniques to work more efficiently and with
less waste.”
The frying process is continuous, and there is a steady replenishment of oil. In a 10 hour period, the full quantity of the fryer is replaced by fresh oil. “We use the lowest quantity of oil possible, and the heat exchangers are now outside the oil instead of inside, and steam is used for heating.
Because of this, we can use sunflower oil, even though it is rather unstable,” said Dr Keijbets. “We only use oils without trans fatty acids, including palm oil; and for a few products, we use olive oil.”
Colour sorters are used after the cutting stage to ensure the quality of the end products. The cutting part of the process was designed and patented by Aviko itself, and consists of a block of knives in a tube, which enables the potatoes to be cut in long pieces. After the blanching stage, the FrenchFries are pre-dried to give a good crust.
Freon is used in the chilling stage, and gas from the fryers is burnt to prevent smells dispersing to the surrounding area.
The company is investing in new technology, and is ever on the look-out for ways of making the process more efficient, and, of course, continues to develop interesting and convenient products for today’s discerning consumers.