Frozen French Fries (7/7, 9/9 & 10/10 mm, Coated and Uncoated)

Par-fried straight and crinkle cut fries by cut size, length grade and fry colour, in -18 °C reefers

Frozen French fries are bought on five things: the cut, the length, the colour after frying, the defects and whether the strip carries a coating. The cut is named by its cross section - 7/7 mm is a shoestring fry, 9/9 and 10/10 mm are the foodservice workhorses - and the Codex standard for quick frozen French fried potatoes (CXS 114-1981) groups cuts as shoestring (5-8 mm across the largest cut surface), medium (8-12 mm), thick cut (12-16 mm) and extra large (over 16 mm), sets moisture at 76% maximum for the first three and 78% for extra large, and holds the frying fat to 1.5% free fatty acids. Length is graded the US way: under the US grade standards a lot is Extra Long when 80% or more of the strips are 2 inches or longer and 30% or more are 3 inches or longer, Long at 70% and 15%, Medium at 50% over 2 inches, and Short below that. Fry colour is read against the USDA Munsell colour standards for frozen French fried potatoes, a seven-step scale from 000 (almost no browning) to 4 (brown), and quick-service chains write the colour band into the specification. Defects are counted per sample: Codex scores blemishes by spot diameter (3-7 mm minor, 7-12 mm major, 12 mm and over serious), plus slivers, pieces under 25 mm and burnt units, and buyers add sugar ends, the dark tip that fries brown when a stressed tuber has stored reducing sugars at one end. Coated fries carry a thin starch batter - Lutosa lists tapioca starch, rice flour and potato starch in its coatings - so the fry holds heat and crispness longer for delivery and takeaway; uncoated fries are potato and oil only. EU buyers also ask for acrylamide control, because Regulation (EU) 2017/2158 sets a benchmark level of 500 µg/kg for ready-to-eat French fries.

UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2004.10 total USD 13.02 billion and about 9.1 million MT across 92 reporters. Belgium leads with USD 3.61 billion and 2,763,500 MT at an average USD 1,304/MT, then the Netherlands (USD 2.71 billion, 1,798,200 MT), Canada (USD 2.07 billion, 1,446,100 MT), the USA (USD 1.54 billion, 916,300 MT at USD 1,683/MT), France (USD 881 million), Germany (USD 455 million), Poland (USD 310 million), Argentina (USD 294 million), China (USD 260 million, 206,100 MT), Egypt (USD 210 million, 150,400 MT) and India (USD 203 million, 172,400 MT at USD 1,177/MT). The newer origins sell into their own regions: Egypt shipped 31,000 MT to Saudi Arabia, 26,000 MT to Jordan and 21,400 MT to the UAE, and India 44,300 MT to the Philippines, 32,600 MT to Thailand and 19,900 MT to Malaysia. The buyer is a foodservice distributor, a quick-service or casual-dining chain's supply desk, a hotel and catering wholesaler or a retail private-label importer. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers frozen fries from processors in Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA, France, Poland, Argentina, Egypt, India and China against the producer's specification sheet and certificate of analysis for cut, length, colour and defects, the plant's BRCGS or IFS certificate, a halal certificate per lot where the destination requires one, a certificate of origin and a health certificate from the origin authority where the importing country asks for it. Cartons of 4 x 2.5 kg bags move palletised or floor-loaded in 40-ft high-cube reefer containers set at -18 °C on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, with the shelf life stated on the carton by the producer. Send the cut, style, coated or uncoated, length grade, colour band, pack, container count and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against processors that pack to it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.