In Washington, Washington State University researchers announced that McDonald’s has chosen two new russet potato varieties for their french fries. The Clearwater Russet and the Blazer Russet were developed by the Northwest Potato Variety Development Program, a collaborative group including WSU, Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.
WSU horticulture professor Rick Knowles said, “McDonald’s has expert tasters, kind of like with fine wine. Their gold standard potato for french fries is a Russet Burbank, which makes a great fry but is really inefficient from a production standpoint.”
McDonald’s is the largest potato buyer in the world and of the seven varieties that are accepted, four of them are from this program. These new varieties meet the stringent taste requirements and are more efficient, stress tolerant and sustainable than the Burbank. And, the Clearwater comes with 33 percent higher protein than the Burbank.