According to recent research by VLAM (*), a whopping 95% of Flemings go to the snack kiosk at least once a year.
85% of Flemings eat fries at least once a month and over 60% do so at least once a week.
Almost half (48%) of the fries are made at home, 27% are bought as take-out and 25% are eaten outside the home.
For the total fries market, the snack kiosk has a market share of 29%. Looking specifically at consumption outside the home that share is 40% and within the take-out market fries even increase their share to 73%.
Most snack kiosk customers choose a small portion of fries (41%), 39% order a normal portion and 20% a large bag.
In the charts of the sauces, mayonnaise leads the way (40%), followed by beef stew sauce (32%), tartare sauce (13%) ketchup (9%) and andalouse (7%).
(*) Posttest Week van de Frituur 2016 Insites commissioned by Vlam
Today, Belgium is in the middle of the ideal region for growing potatoes. With an average yield of around 45 tonnes per ha as a result of the optimum growing conditions and expertise in the potato chain, it is no coincidence that our country has developed into the largest exporter of (frozen) fries in the world. These Belgian fries, often produced by family businesses, are fried all over the world. Every year, around 3.5 million tonnes of potatoes are processed into fries, mashed potato preparations, crisps and flakes in Belgium. According to VLAM, the annual total consumption of potatoes is about 80 to 85 kg per person. The Belgians eat 38kg of fresh potatoes and 6 to 7 kg of processed potatoes at home per year. According to Belgapom, the Belgian potato trade & processing industry association, our country has around 7,000 potato producers, a few hundred dealers and around 20 professional processing companies that employ almost 3000 people.
