Lamb Weston makes UK grocery debut with frozen chip range

Major foodservice supplier Lamb Weston is to enter UK grocery for the first time, rolling out a six-strong range of skin-on frozen fries and chips.

Landing in “most major retailers” from this month, the Lamb Weston retail range will comprise: Twister Fries, Potato Dippers, Seasoned Ziggy Fries, and Salt & Pepper Grill Fries, Waffle Fries and Pub Chips (rsps: £2.50).

Further variants would be added as “the brand establishes itself in the UK market”, Lamb Weston said.

The entire range, which took 18 months to develop, can be cooked in an oven or air fryer.

It had been created “with the aim of reenergising the UK retail market”, the US-headquartered supplier said. 

Lamb Weston was “excited to bring our extensive knowledge and passion for potatoes to the UK’s supermarket freezer aisles,” said its EMEA vice president of commercial Sebastiaan Besems.

Consumers were “actively seeking interesting options that meet their needs when it comes to home cooking, quality and sustainability,” Besems said.

“As the original creators of inventive shapes that are cut from whole potatoes, like Twister Fries, we’re ready to re-energise the frozen potato category, with delicious skin-on potato fries and chips,” he added.

The Lamb Weston supermarket range comes packaged in a thinner, 60% bio circular plastic-based material, made using the suppliers used cooking oil.

This resulted in a 30% reduction in carbon footprint compared to thicker, 100% fossil-based material, the brand said.

“As a leader in the food industry, we understand the importance of better packaging and we prioritize changing its future,” Besems said. “This exciting project fits our sustainability agenda, which is driven by the need to conserve natural resources, prevent and eliminate food loss and waste, and limit our environmental impact where possible.”

Founded in Oregon in 1950, Lamb Weston is one of the world’s largest suppliers of frozen potato products. It already accounts for one in every five chips sold in the UK via its exposure to the foodservice channel. The supplier also sells in retail in markets including the Middle East, the Netherlands, Italy and France.