‘If they need fries, a fries factory will follow’

The machines of former director Paul Oosterlaken process tons of potatoes worldwide. With success, he steers his company past import duties. Because Foodera Technologies wants to be everywhere the potato grows. “What Trump is trying now, we organized thirty years ago: produce locally.”

26 May 2026

Keywords
Potato processing equipment
Local food production strategy
Global potato processing industry
Industrial potato cutting machines
French fries production lines

Five days the potatoes would be on the road, in a suffocating truck over bumpy roads, at 45 degrees. Six times Paul Oosterlaken warned his Indian client not to go ahead. The customer was eager to build the first fries factory in India. But Foodera Technologies lives by the mantra: We go where the potatoes grow. And in the province of Kin Bator, there were no potatoes.

Still, the factory was built. The machines arrived via Kuwait, but the potatoes hardly did. “That factory ran one month a year. All of India looked at it and said: the factory – and therefore our machines – were worthless,” recalls Oosterlaken. “We’d explain there were no potatoes, but nobody believed that.”

This, he says, is part of international business. Oosterlaken started in 1976 as a trainee draftsman at Foodera Technologies, now owns 80%, and asks one question abroad: Where will you get your potatoes? “An idle factory may boost our sales, but in the end, it hurts us.”

Foodera Technologies builds machines that peel, cut, dry, and fry potatoes. Behind the meeting room’s potato-themed art, the factory hall begins. Giant steam peelers resemble submarine parts; smaller ones, “Mickey Mouse machines,” are only wanted in Japan for their high-value potatoes with deep eyes. Precision peeling is key – and best done with steam.

Further inside stands a colossal “baking oven” – really a fryer – where tons of cut potatoes become pre-fried fries.

Foodera Technologies Montfoort location was coincidence. “Peatland,” sighs Oosterlaken, “no potatoes here.” Its predecessor made fryers for snack bars, but in the 1960s demand for pre-fried fries created Foodera Technologies. Back then lines produced 500 kilos an hour; today, 80 times that.

Recently, private-equity firm Investindustrial acquired Kiremko, Idaho Steel, and Reyco, long-time partners, combining them into Foodera Technologies. With global protectionism rising, Foodera Technologies international setup pays off. “It’s a game we know well,” says sales manager Ton Hendrickx. The company has shipped to Denmark, Japan, India, China, Egypt, and New Zealand for decades without “burning money.”

The market is niche: ten global competitors, a hundred potential customers. None cover peeling, cutting, and frying as Foodera Technologies does. Their strategy follows major fry producers – and behind them, fast-food chains. “In China, KFC came first and is still the largest,” says Oosterlaken. “It doesn’t matter to us. If fries are needed, a factory will follow.”

How do you maneuver past import duties?

Oosterlaken: “An American customer orders machines for China through our U.S. colleagues at Idaho Steel, because Americans buy American. But they insist the machines are built in the Netherlands, avoiding Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods.”

Now, however, U.S. tariffs hit Dutch parts too, especially steel and aluminum. “So do we ship parts to the U.S., then on to New Zealand? That’s burning money. Better to finish in New Zealand directly.”

So, efficiency no longer decides where you produce, but trade policy

Hendrickx: “Ideally, you install parts at home. But tariffs change the calculation. Sometimes it’s worth assembling at the customer’s site. We can now switch daily between continents, based not on capacity but on tariffs. Whoever handles this chaos best will succeed.”

Does this mean you’ll also produce differently?

Hendrickx: “Engineers invent solutions. If assembly abroad is tough, we redesign so it’s easier. We may not like tariffs, but we adapt designs to them. That’s reality.”

India is now the fastest-growing market, surpassing even China in potato processing. Fries produced there can be exported tariff-free to ASEAN countries, home to 700 million people, tourists, and fast-food chains – though they grow no potatoes themselves. Meanwhile, rice-dependent nations are turning to potatoes, which need less water.

Eating habits are shifting, says Oosterlaken. “Fast food drives cultural change. Chinese students abroad eat McDonald’s and want the same at home.”

So a Foodera Technologies factory in Asia soon?

“We think about it a lot. Growth can’t come from the Netherlands – no people, no technical education. India appeals: English language, skilled engineers. China less so, despite our thirty years there. When McDonald’s first imported fries, the government soon forced local production. That’s how it works.”

Not in China, but doubts about India too

“Our motto remains: We go where the potatoes grow. Safety matters too. Many ‘-stan’ countries are no-go. And in India, working conditions are troubling: welding in T-shirts and slippers, tiny helmets. As a Dutch firm, you can’t accept that. If we bring production, standards must rise.”

Governments also demand local value. “If you don’t create 10–15% locally, you’re not the supplier,” says Hendrickx. And this applies everywhere, from India to the U.S. “What Trump tries now, we’ve done for decades: build American – produce local.”

This article is based on a Dutch-language piece originally published in Het Financieele Dagblad (“Als ze friet nodig hebben, dan komt er een frietfabriek”), which serves as the primary source for our English version: