Which potato varieties are best for making French fries?

Innovator is the world's leading french fry processing variety, grown by major processors including McCain, Lamb Weston, and Aviko across Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. This variety delivers 22-24% dry matter content, excellent fry color, and resistance to mechanical damage.

Fontane stands as another premier choice, offering 20-21% starch content with very low reducing sugars that produce excellent fry color. This Dutch-bred variety (HZPC, 1999) is widely used across Europe, North Africa, and Asia for its versatility in both fresh market and processing applications.

Markies complements the top tier with its 20-21% starch content and exceptional storage capabilities. This late-maturing variety (developed by HZPC in 2000) maintains low reducing sugars during long-term storage, making it ideal for year-round fry production. Its large, uniform oval-long tubers ensure consistent product quality.

Additional important fry varieties include Ranger Russet and Umatilla Russet from the USA, both delivering 20-23% dry matter content and dominating production in Idaho, Washington, and the Pacific Northwest. Shepody from Canada offers earlier maturity while maintaining good fry quality with 19-21% starch content.

The key technical requirements for optimal french fry varieties are high dry matter content (20-24%), low reducing sugars to prevent dark frying colors and minimize acrylamide formation, uniform tuber shape for consistent cutting, and good storage characteristics to maintain quality year-round.