b'HOT CRISPandPeople hate cold, soggy fries.Thankfully thats now a thing of the past. BY: TREVOR BACQUEASK ANY FAST-FOODIE what their biggest pet peeve isCoatings have been popular on fries for years, with battered about french fries and the answer is nearly universal: you have tofries and other products gaining market share for some time, eat them immediately because once cooled off, theyre terrible.Matt Petersen, Simplots director of potato product marketing, Its foods version of a warm, flat beer. Nothing compares to asays in an email interview. We think the coating on our (fries) fresh pack of fries at a fast-food restaurant or out of the oven, buthelps the product hold the qualities that people have come to the sensation doesnt last long.expect from their french fries for longer, and that includes the Its not that food processors and restaurants alike are unawaretaste, crispness and heat.of this fact, but theyve been collectively stymied as to how bestPetersen says customers have been asking for longer lasting to remedy the situation. Until now.fries for years and the company is happy to lead the charge. Research on fry freshness has been underway for the last fewAlthough he wouldnt say how much longer Simplots fries last years and the breakthrough seems to be here. And just in time,compared to others, he does claim the company leads the pack. too. The COVID-19 pandemic still continues, and cities are inBeyond that, the new fries are able to be reheated in a various states of lockdown, meaning restaurants and pubs acrossmicrowave in just 20 seconds if done within an hour of cooking the country are still filling takeout orders at higher than normalor 30 minutes of delivery, which is good news for both the rates. As a result, all of these establishments, especially fast-foodtakeout and home cooking crowds alike.restaurants, have been delivering like never before, but it still takesAlready, reality has outperformed expectation and Petersen time to reach a destination. Now, thanks to ingenuity as to howsays he expects that to continue. best engineer the fries at the front end of the cooking process, fryOf course, the lovers can rejoice for up to 40 minutes with warm fries. demand has been Leading the charge is fry juggernaut Simplot. The Boise,tied in some part Idaho-based company introduced its Conquest Delivery+ fry, ato the closing unique fry for operators that stays hot and crispyyes, crispyfor up to 40 minutes post cooking. Beyond the initial cooking, these fries are reportedly able to be reheated and stay true to their original form, not carbon-fibre hard.You ask, how did they do it? The answer is as natural as it is unique. The company researched and successfully created a method to strip the potato of its starch during processing before being reapplied to the product as a clear coating. This coating acts as a heat jacket to maintain temperature and the crispy factor of fries, which come in five different cuts, through Simplots proprietary process.22SPUDSMART.COM Winter 2022'