A state-of-the-art receiving, washing and sorting station has gone into action at the Lamb Weston/Meijer (LWM) frozen french fry factory in Kruiningen, Holland. Royal Commissioner Hans Polman was on hand to officiate the September 18 start-up ceremony, along with Managing Director Bas Alblas.
The €20 million upgrading project entailed replacing former production buildings with a single potato reception and sorting area. The installation of fully automated sorting lines was needed to make the complex potato sorting process considerably simpler and more efficient, requiring only four employees per shift.
In business since 1994, LW/M today operates five facilities – three in the Netherlands, and one each in the United Kingdom and Austria – with combined capacity of 650,000 tons per annum. The company, a joint venture business of Omaha Nebraska, USA-based ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston and Kruiningen-headquartered Meijer Frozen Food, employs more than 1,300 people and exports finished products to numerous countries in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and beyond.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Holland, work continues at Lamb Weston/Meijer’s plant in Bergen op Zoom, where €120 million (approximately $150 million) is being invested to expand and modernize frozen potato processing facilities.
