There’s been roughly a 25% rise in the French frozen chip market over recent years, according to La Voix du Nord, and they’re not just munching on the stylish, slender French fry but the thick-cut British oven chip too.
Because frozen chips are undergoing a spectacular boom in France, where farmers are so desperate to meet the demand for ice-cold potato products that they’re ripping up other crops to plant even more spuds.
“Young generations no longer peel much,” is how Ward Claerbout, legal and external affairs director for Belgian frozen chip giant Agristo, puts it.
Relax, the Times got their sums wrong: the actual 2023 figure is $67.27bn, so we will be eating a lot more chips, but not participating in a global edition of Man v Food.
France is famous for its gastronomy, but there’s been a 25% rise in the oven chip market in recent years.
