Belgapom introduces its ambassador for Belgian fries, James Bint, in Mexico during the economic mission
During the Belgian economic mission led by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, the Belgian potato sector featured prominently in the large delegation representing the Belgian food sector under the banner ‘Food.be, small country, great food’.
Sharply increasing export of Belgian frozen fries to Mexico
Belgium is the largest exporter of frozen potatoes in the world and export to Mexico is rising visibly. And on this market, that is traditionally oriented towards North America, Belgium is already the third largest importer of frozen fries. Last year, Belgian export rose by 282 % to around 10,000 tonnes.
The Belgian companies want to invest further in this growth market, especially now the NAFTA between the USA, Canada and Mexico will be replaced by the USMCA at the beginning of 2020 and the impact of this on trade relations between the USA and Mexico is still unclear.
Belgapom is also examining the phytosanitary possibilities of facilitating the export of fresh potatoes to Mexico. After all, that country only produces 65 % of the potatoes it needs.
Successful Belgapom press event
During a well-attended press event organised in cooperation with FIT which was introduced by the Belgian Ambassador in Mexico, Mr Antoine Evrard, Mr Philippe Muyters, the Minister for Economic Affairs for the Flemish Region, positioned the Flemish and Belgian potato chain in the framework of rich tradition and cooperation and constant innovation efforts.
He illustrated this using the cooperation of Belgapom and the companies of the Flemish spearhead cluster Flanders Food, where numerous innovative projects have started up. Various company projects are also running via Wagralim in Wallonia. The sector also believes in artificial intelligence as VITO’s WatchITgrow project shows. In addition to monitoring the potato plots using satellite photography, in the next few years the idea is to develop online cultivation advice based on a broad database that can integrate all the newly developed disease control models. This should offer further opportunities for sustainable potato cultivation in the Belgian potato region, with its central location in the European potato-growing region.
The new pilot factory in Kortrijk within the context of the Veg-I-Tec Interreg-project should stimulate innovation with regard to processes and products in the Belgian potato and vegetable processing sectors.
James Bint, the ambassador of the Belgian “frietkot” culture now also in Mexico
Finally, Belgapom Secretary-General Romain Cools provided an overview of the Belgian potato chain, with emphasis on the typically Belgian “frietkot” culture. This authenticity – recognised as national, cultural heritage – together with the dynamic nature of the entire potato chain forms the basis of this unique sector. The Belgian potato-processing sector now also wants to enable the Mexican consumer to enrich the rich variety of street food with real ‘papas fritas belgas’.
Some 20 food journalists and bloggers put it to the test and together with the invited guests enjoyed delicious fries served in a traditional Belgian cone with a Mexican chipotle sauce. A refreshing Belgian beer and a few delicious Belgian chocolates rounded off the tasting. And the Belgian ambassador of the “frietkot” culture, James Bint, saw that it was good.
Belgian fries were also present at the ‘Sabores de Bélgica’ event, organised by AWEX, of the Belgian food sector, at which the companies Agristo and Mydibel were present. And naturally the well-attended closing reception in the historic setting of the Colegio de San Ildefonso in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City could not be rounded off without a bag of Belgian fries and a selfie with James Bint.
