11/24/98
New French fry company location's still secret, but not at tradeport
By GARRY RAYNO
Foster's Daily Democrat N.H. Statehouse Writer
CONCORD — French fries could be the first cooked food people are able to
buy from a vending machine.
At a press conference at the Statehouse, officials of Tasty Fries Inc.
said they hope to locate their corporate headquarters and support office
at the Seacoast and expect that as many as 200 jobs will be created.
Spokesman Jerry Gulley said the headquarters will be in an existing
facility and is not at Pease International Tradeport. He declined to say
exactly where the headquarters will be because he said a contract has
not been signed.
Company President Ed Kelly said he hopes to make an announcement of the
exact location within the next couple of weeks.
The company first contacted officials at Pease about a year ago, and
began working closely with the state Department of Resources and
Economic Development several months ago.
DRED Commissioner George Bald said his agency will set up a meeting
among company officials and potential vendors sometime after Jan. 1.
Kelly said he choose the Seacoast because of the availability of
companies capable of supplying the subassemblies that make up the Tasty
Fries machine.
"The state of New Hampshire is keen to bring new jobs to the area. The
machine shops and sheet metal fabricators were very receptive, as well,"
he said.
Tasty Fries Inc. plans to hire local manufacturers to build its
"revolutionary" French fry vending machines.
The machines have 15 different sections that could be manufactured by
different companies and then assembled into the finished product.
The company has built about 25 machines in Pennsylvania near its current
headquarters, and Kelly said many of those machines will be located in
New Hampshire so they will be close to the support services so any
glitches can be worked out.
At a demonstration near the Statehouse cafeteria, the machine took about
90 seconds to produce a cup of hot French fries.
Although many attempts to produce such a machine have failed in the
past, Kelly said the key to his machine's success is it uses dehydrated
potatoes. Dehydrated products have a longer shelf life than precooked
products.
The machine adds water to the potatoes, shapes them into French fries
and then cooks them in oil.
Kelly said the technique can be used on any dehydrated product and he
expects other machines will be developed to dispense other kinds of hot
foods.
He said he expects the machines to be sold to the large vending machine
companies and to be placed where other machines are located such as rest
stops and college dormitories.
In a prepared statement, Gov. Jeanne Shaheen said, "We are extremely
pleased that Tasty Fries has chosen to come to New Hampshire. It is a
tribute to our business-friendly environment, our positive tax structure
and, of course, our outstanding quality of life."
"We were impressed by the ‘can do' attitude we found in New Hampshire,"
Kelly said. "Everything we need is available and we found the people we
met ready to do business. Especially exciting was the cooperation of
state government, something we had not found elsewhere."
The Tasty Fries vending machines will be available early next year.
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