I had lunch at Five Guys in Korea

In January of 2026 I had the pleasure of visiting Korea and ate lunch at Five Guys in the iPark Mall near my hotel in Seoul.

Five Guys is one of the few QSRs that uses fresh cut potato strips for its French fries. They also fry the potato strips in peanut oil, which is more expensive that other oils and has a higher smoking temperature. The peanut oil apparently results in a better tasting French fry.

This visit inspired me to add a fresh potato cutting-blanching-drying module to our automatic French fry machine. Five Guys has over 1900 restaurants and has been an incredible success story founded in 1986 by the Murrell family. The chain has never deviated from the foundation of their success which has always been the use of high quality ingredients. Many other restaurants serve highly processed frozen fries that are coated, par-fried, and are not as nutritious.

Five Guys stores sacks of potatoes out front as well as peanut oil to remind their customers of their commitment to quality. They also post a sign indicating which farm and the name of the farmer who grew the potatoes creating a connection between the farm and the end consumer.

Five Guys iPark Mall, Seoul

Whataburger also uses fresh cut potatoes for their fries. They have 1180 locations.

Now imagine a patented apparatus that inspects the potato, cuts it into strips, blanches it at 100 degrees, spin/air dries them prior to par-frying, followed by a mandatory rest period and then finish fried. Imaging the basket of finished fries being dumped into a seasoning and boxing machine that delivers a completely seasoned and boxed serving of fries untouched by human hands.

This machine is designed to meet peak demand at a busy restaurant and automates the work of several FTEs.