Inner Mongolia Linkage Potato Co., Ltd and Farm Frites have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture in Wudan Town, Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia in China.
The joint venture will be called ‘Inner Mongolia Linkage Farm Frites Co., Ltd.’ and will build a new fry factory, which will mainly cater to the high-end market in China, according to news website freshplaza.com.
Linkage has been active in the potato sector for a number of years now. Along with producing mini-tubers and seeds, they are also active in the cultivation and storage of potatoes. They supply a few big customers and produce potato flakes in their factory in WudanTown.
Farm Frites is one of the leading players in the global fry market. They have production locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Egypt and Argentina.
The new fry factory, which will have the capacity to produce 70,000 tons, will be built next to the current Linkage establishment.
The potatoes will be grown within 200 km of the factory on a large-scale modern farm. Cultivation, harvesting and storage of the potatoes will be performed using modern technology based on American and European knowledge.
Both potato storage and a cold storage warehouse for the finished product will be built in the same location, so that a fully integrated operation occurs.
According to Yan Hongzhi, director of Linkage, this collaboration with Farm Frites is extremely important in order to gain access to the top quality agricultural know how that is needed for the production and processing of potatoes, and to reach the high-end fry market.
Piet de Bruijne, director of Farm Frites, sees this as a fantastic opportunity to gain a strategic position in the largest food market in the world.
