Even Europeans are surprised. A new survey confirms that consumers – especially younger ‘Gens’ – now prefer oven-baked, home prepped fries to deep-fried ‘chips’. And some older folks are starting to talk about ‘lost generations’ again…
I think it’s fair to say that many of us who share coffee (digitally at least) over the Fast Food Blog on a regular basis now consider over-naked, from-fozen ‘French’ fries healthier, faster and cheaper than ‘the real deal’. Whether deep-fried at home or purchased at a restaurant.
Many advantages
The oven-baked fry ‘class’ has expended in recent years to encompass a plethora of shapes and ‘finishes’ with something to please almost any crispy, dippy devotée.
But one thing the majority have not come to a consensus on is the flavour. Can baked fries compete with deep-fried – especially with the legendary beef tallow-sizzled originals in that dimension?
Old-school holdouts – yours truly, to an extent – say there’s no comparison. Of course, we’re also a majority among those who insist that fries taste better with the skins left on delivering that extra, earthy dimension of flavour and crispness. For us, though, Steak ‘N Shake recently announced it’s bringing back original Beef-tallow cooked fries – now that science has exonerated tallow of most its unhealthy connotations.
But what about the European Gen Zs?
Incredible as it sounds, even the French are abandoning traditional deep-fried fries in favour of the oven-baked version.
“It seems the French are actually rather keen on la malbouffe (junk food) these days. There’s been roughly a 25 percent rise in the French frozen chip market over recent years, according to La Voix du Nord,” a ‘Pass Notes’ Fast Food column in The Guardian recently disclosed. “And they’re not just munching on the stylish, slender French fry but the thick-cut British oven chip too.”
The shift is apparently being driven by French youth, who can’t be bothered fussing around in the kitchen. “Young generations no longer peel much,” is how Ward Claerbout, the Legal and External Affairs Director for Belgian frozen chip giant Agristo, puts it.
Which is my cue to remind you that so-called ‘French Fries’ were never a French invention in the first place. They were, in fact, created by the Belgians. And are just as popular among the Germans as they are among the Belgians and the French today. Followed closely by the Dutch – and most of the rest of the Western World.
My take
According to the latest figures, 2023 global total French Fry sales were $67.27 billion. And the world-wide market for frozen potato products is expected to grow to $89.51 billion by 2029! And the majority of that growth will take place in home-prepared, oven-baked from-frozen products.
I suppose, if growth in potato consumption is to explode in the fry sector, it’s just as well – for hu-manity’s collective health and well being – that it takes place in the oven-baked, home-prepped niche. Where folks can control – and take responsibility for – the amount of fat and salt that gets into them!
~ Maggie J.