The quality of oven fries left quite a bit to be desired, according to Onno Muilwijk of Sharefoods a few years ago. A shame, because he also saw demand for the product. Since 2015, he’s been trying to market the Beyerlander fries with his father Bram and brother Henrico. These fries are made from Dutch potatoes. Market research is wasted on them. “An average isn’t good enough for us.”
Sharefoods doesn’t produce the fries, the company just markets them. “We work on concepts in segments we think have room for them. In this case, oven and air fryer fries.” It isn’t the first concept marketed by Sharefoods. In 2008, they started condiment brand Yildriz, which was sold to Remia in 2015.
Onno: “In those days, we were looking for a complementary product to promote our condiments. One of the options was fries. Steps had already been taken to find a healthy alternative to deep frying pans. Bags of oven fries were on the shelves everywhere, but we thought quality left something to be desired. Moreover, compared to deep-frying, it took very long to prepare oven fries. That’s why we started promoting this product, under the Beyerlander name.”
Short preparation time
Beyerlander oven fries were marketed first. With a preparation time of six minutes, consumers didn’t have to wait long for their over fries anymore. The slim fries are still their most popular product. The assortment has now been expanded with traditional, slightly larger fries and flat steakhouse fries, both for the air fryer. Recently, potato puffs, dumplings, wedges, slices and rösti slices were added to that.
The air fryer has been on the market for about ten years now as an alternative to deep frying pans, but in recent years, its popularity has increased. The greasy deep frying pans are exchanged for air fryers in more and more households. “It’s an example of a trendy product. In this case, the trend has worked out well for us,” Onno continues. Sharefoods soon joined in on the trend, and developed special versions for the air fryer. The Fontana potato variety, grown on Dutch soil, is used for the production of the Beyerlander fries. “This mostly decides the flavour of the fries. The flavour is also dependant on the method of preparation, and personal preference naturally also plays its part.”
No market research preceded the introduction of the Beyerlander products. “In this respect, we don’t play by the book. We simply think it takes too long,” Onno explains. “Moreover, market research nearly always results in an average opinion. An average opinion often leads to an average product, and an average product isn’t good enough.” Onno spends time in supermarkets nearly every week, to let consumers taste the fries. “We have to tell consumers they’re new. People don’t just buy more fries than they’re used to. That’s why we show them and let them taste the fries to show our product is distinctive in preparation time, flavour and ingredients.”
Plans for the future
Right now, Beyerlander is still exclusively supplied to supermarkets. “We now supply to 1,600 shops. We work hard to increase this number. In the short term, we mostly focus on an expansion in distribution, and in future we might also be able to take steps towards catering or abroad. But we prefer doing things step-by-step. Besides, we’re working on a number of new concepts at the same time. We won’t be bored in the next few years,” Onno concludes.
More information:
Beyerlander
Onno Muilwijk