Leon&León present a not-so-guilty pleasure:
World's first low(er)- carb fries
Our story
Fries called Leon&León; that might sound a little bit… different.
That’s exactly what we are, a little bit different.
Once you hear the story about two cousins who went on a potato-adventure, it will all make sense to you. Their names?
Leon&León of course.
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1536 - 1905: THE HISTORY OF FRIES
In the year 1536, the first potato plant was imported into Europe. The first potato was introduced in the Netherlands in 1593, but more than a century later the first potatoes where grown as human food. In 1905 the Dutch people were introduced to fries. The first fries were sold at a fair in Bergen op Zoom in the south west of Holland. Since that moment, fries have become the favourite snack of the Dutch.
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2012: A life without fries
Because of medical reasons, Leon has to go on a low-carb diet. He is facing a life without his guilty pleasure: fries. Of course you can live without ever eating fries, but that would be a lot less fun, right? So Leon decides to search for low-carb fries.
The result? Nothing!
Leon seeks help from his cousin: the other León. Their idea? To produce low-carb fries themselves. And so it began.
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2012 - 2013: A meeting with Professor Potato
Both Leons start by visiting Professor Potato himself: Hans van Doorn, biochemist at HZPC's R&D centre. They learn that the Netherlands are leader in the development of new potato varieties. Isn’t that convenient? There’s just one problem, Hans tells them, you can’t fry low carb potatoes. Being the stubborn men they are, Leon and León leave HZPC with over a 100 kilos of freshly harvested low-carb potatoes in their trunk to go and try to fry them themselves.
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2013 - 2014: Better luck next time. Or not.
Unfortunately, these potatoes do not seem to love oil. Time after time, attempt after attempt, Leon & León fail to fry the low-carb potatoes. After more than 300 attempts, the only result they have is 100 kilo of burned fries (sorry!).
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2014: Eureka!
So far Leon and León have: a good idea, a good potato, but still no fries. Until one of the Leons has an epiphany. What if we use some sort of coating which protects the fries from burning?
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2015: Paul to the rescue
In the search for a coating, Leon and León end up with Paul Vos, co-founder of De Korrel, which is a company that is specialized in food coatings. He decides to join the men in their adventure and develops a 100% natural coating.
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2016 - 2017: Time for the test
The men finally stand before their invention: low-carb fries with a coating. Will it work? There’s only one way to find out. It’s time to put the fries into the airfryer. Eight nerve-wrecking minutes pass by. The moment of truth. Color: bright and yellow. Check! Smell: exactly what freshly baked fries should smell like. Check! Taste: crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with a surprisingly tasty potato flavor. Major check!
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2018: The birth of Leon&León
After an adventure of several years, their curiosity, stubbornness and hard work got rewarded. Leon could finally eat his beloved low-carb fries. But how selfish would it be to keep this great invention to themselves? So, they took on the advice of their potato-friends from HZPC and De Korrel and decided to bring these fries to the market. To you!
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2019: The introduction of worlds first low-carb fries