There are chips in the farmhouse, in Urruña
- “At the moment we have few growers in the area of Urruña, as in Iparralde the majority are in the interior.” They are words of the Urrujan producer Beñat Exposito, who talks about the situation of the coast of Lapurdi. In an increasingly less populated area with more urbanized areas, Larrea has maintained his commitment to live in the farmhouse, and he, his brother and his father are his means of subsistence. On the one hand, they produce cow's milk for sale in crude oil and on the other hand, the potato, which is then processed and sold as chips. “We started producing chips about 15 years ago, and in these years what has changed the most has been domestic activity,” he explained.
From a very young age, it was very clear that Exposito would take over from his parents, which is why he studied agriculture and livestock in Pau. At first they thought there was not going to be a job at home for their young brother, but with the changes in production and marketing, they also got a place for him in Larrea. “We started with direct selling to improve the margin. The idea is not to increase the volume, but to be able to sell better,” says the producer.
In addition to direct sales, potato production has been one of the main innovations that the young man has launched. “Fifteen years ago, when we started, we sold 25,000 packages of chips a year, because last year it was 100,000.” Chips are sold in 100-gram bags in nearby stores. But where did the Urruña family start producing chips? This is explained by Exposito: “We used to produce milk and vegetables, but in summer we made a lot of potatoes, and in Donibane we sold to a well-known store that made chips.” When they learned that the store owner was going to retire, they saw a new opportunity in front of them.
The whole process on the farm
They treated the store owner and received the machines and recipes that he himself used. “We didn’t invent anything, we already had customers to start,” says Exposito. From sowing the potato to putting it in bags, all the way they do in the same house, by hand: planting, collecting, peeling, cutting, cooking… “We have a machine that cuts the potato very finely and a great fryer”. Sunflower oil has been purchased from a small farm in Bordeaux since its inception, but the shortage of oil caused by the current crisis has recently forced us to look for new ways.
Unlike industrial potatoes, Larrea potatoes should be consumed over a period of two or three weeks as they do not contain preservatives of any kind. “We work with fried potatoes as with fresh products: we produce all year round and not everything in a strong blow as in the industry.” The Exhibition is extracted daily with the car to distribute raw milk from the house and potatoes in the neighboring villages: Baiona, Biarritz, Angelu, Senpere, Azkaine, Hendaia… “We sold at a maximum distance of 50 kilometers”.
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