The entrepreneurial drive of Jack Simplot took the form of the J R Simplot Company, a constellation of enterprises that range from food processing and chemical fertilizers to mining and ranching.
Simplot started in the potato business by renting a quarter section of land (160 acres ) of land near Burley.
The J R Simplot Co. developed the first frozen French fries. He adapted a prune drying machine for use with potatoes in 1940. Potato flakes were soon produced in large quantities for the military use during World War II.
The company began freezing potatoes at Nampa, Idaho plant in the late 1940s. It was the first company to produce an oil blanched, par fried product that was particularly adaptable to the fast food and institutional food services markets.
His big boost came when the Second World War created an enormous demand or dehydrated potatoes, onions and other food products need to feed the troops.
In 1966 Ray Kroc of McDonald made a deal with J R Simplot and Simplot agree to dedicate one factory to producing frozen fries.
J R Simplot Company business expanded not only into a potato business, but also into fertilizer, oil, animal feed, seed cattle and resorts.
J.R Simplot Company
