French fries producer Agristo will reuse small potato pieces

The West Flemish producer of potato products already has such a production line in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Now there is such a flake line in our country for the first time, the spokeswoman clarifies. The flake line will be added to the three existing production lines at the Wielsbeke site.

Circularity

The company says it is committed to “circularity” for production for human consumption. “Until now, 30,000 tons of potatoes were ‘lost’ every year. Of course we still use that as animal feed. But we want to get the most out of the potato for human consumption,” says COO Kristof Wallays.

The dried potato flake that will roll off the belt is mainly used for making chips, but also purees, pastes, binding agents and bread improvers, the company explains. Agristo is still looking for ten new people for the new line. The line will provide employment for 20 to 25 new people.

In addition, the company is preparing to “mirror” the site in Wielsbeke with at least three additional production lines, which will generate another hundred vacancies in the coming years.