Aug 31, 2016McDonald’s approves two varieties for french fry production
McDonald’s USA recently approved the Clearwater Russet, left, and the Ivory Russet for use in its frozen french fry production in the United States.
The two varieties join Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet and Shepody as gold standard varieties approved by McDonald’s USA , said Mitch Smith, the company’s quality systems director for agricultural products. He said the gold standard signifies that McDonald’s recognizes the variety that could create a target product.
Smith said that the Clearwater Russet and the Ivory Russet have been approved for use in the western growing region. The Ivory Russet was given the green light for use in June and approval for the Clearwater Russet was given the middle of August.
Both potatoes are dual purpose varieties, suitable for process and fresh markets.
The Clearwater Russet is a cross of the Bannock Russet and A89152-4 and was developed by the Tri-State Research and Breeding program. The Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI) is the exclusive license holder and administers the commercial production of seed through license royalty payments for the Tri-State program. Proceeds from license fees are returned to the program.
“This is good news for PVMI,” said Jeanne Debons, PVMI executive director. “We’ve been working towards this objective since the release of Umatilla. It means that PVMI will be able to collect additional royalties to give back to the program.”
She said the Clearwater stores well but may be susceptible to fusarium disease.
Debons said that with this selection by McDonald’s, she anticipates that seed acreage will double or triple from the 2015 total of 894.2 acres.
The Ivory Russet was created in 1998 through a cross of Innovator and RZ-93-7105 and is represented by HZPC Americas. HZPC is a merger of De ZPC and Hettema companies in the Netherlands. According to the HZPC website, Ivory Russet is resistant to golden nematode and has good resistance to common scab.
In 2015, there were 22.5 certified seed acres of Ivory Russet in the U.S.
Smith said that both varieties go through a rigorous set of testing before being approved as a gold standard variety. A McDonald’s fry supplier will submit a variety for testing to the company.
“We take it to a difference panel and if it passes the difference panel we take it to consumer testing,” he said. “If it passes consumer testing, then we put a brief together and it goes to our global corps menu team, who then reviews it and presents it also to various management folks and it’s approved or not.”
Smith said that both varieties exhibit good size profiles, low sugars and good solids and predicts more varieties being selected by McDonald’s in the future.
“I feel like we need to keep considering new alternatives given the fact we need to grow more product on less land with less inputs,” he said. “I feel good that we’re finding some varieties that have promise. Quite frankly, I think there’s still more to come out of the National Frozen Processor trials as well. It’ll be an ongoing endeavor forever.”
These two selections represent something of a final milestone for Smith. He will be retiring from McDonald’s on September 26.
