Head-to-Head: Hand-Cut vs. Frozen French Fries

Hand-cut vs. frozen. What do consumers like more?

The answer seems obvious at first: the word “fresh” is just so appealing. Who wouldn’t want a fresh option?

Yet there is at least one category that upends the conventional wisdom: french fries.

When you put hand-cut and frozen french fries against each other in a head-to-head competition, the results are clear. Overall, consumers prefer the taste, texture, and consistency of frozen french fries over hand-cut options.

Not convinced? Let’s dive into the research:

It’s all about the texture

What’s the number one most important factor in a french fry to the average consumer? Salt level? Color? Price?

Texture.

When asked about the most important part of the perfect French fry, 72% of consumers said it has to be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the top factor they chose overall.¹

Here’s some of what they said when asked about french fries on the menu:¹

• “I like french fries that stay crispy for a long time and are served hot.”

• “Crispy, fluffy fries are so good.”

• “Crispy, hot french fries are always delicious.”

• “I like golden crisp french fries.”

On the other hand, the top concern for hand-cut fries is that they are often soggy, while the second most-voiced concern was their greasiness. When asked about hand-cut fries, consumers said things like:¹

• “Could [use] more crunch.”

• “I don’t like that it’s too greasy.”

• “These are quite often undercooked.”

• “Grease is always a concern.”

Consumers clearly prefer fries that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, perfectly salted, and have a rich, golden hue. As most chefs know, frozen fries simply deliver on those consumer wants more consistently.

Frozen fries are traffic drivers

What’s perhaps most surprising about these findings is that it’s not just chefs who know that frozen fries are better—consumers do, too. As many chefs know, sometimes consumers think or say they want one thing (like a healthy salad), but they really want a different option (an indulgent burger). It could have been just as likely that consumers thought they wanted a fresh, hand-cut option, but a taste test revealed they preferred the frozen option.

But consumers know they like frozen fries better. French fries are a well-loved category with lots of options available on menus today—consumers have had plenty of opportunity to learn their preferences. In fact, social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are full of users who proudly state their preferred fry shapes, or showcase a sad, greasy, wilted hand-cut fry that came with their meal.

That’s why 47% of consumers say they would visit a restaurant just for frozen fries, compared to the 39% who would visit for hand-cut.²

What’s more, 42% of consumers say they would order frozen fries all the time, compared to only 28% who would order hand-cut fries all the time.²

Consumers are clear: frozen fries have the preferred texture and consistency they are looking for, they’ll go out of their way to get them, and they’ll visit more often for them. A win, win, win.

The preferred choice for off-premise options

Those texture preferences also come into play for off-premise occasions. It’s clear that pickup and delivery options are here to stay post-pandemic, but the soggy fries that consumers often associate with hand-cut fries are only more of a problem for these increased off-premise occasions, where soggy fries are so common.

Which is why, again, consumers prefer frozen options for to-go and delivery fries. For a to-go or drive-thru order, 80% of consumers preferred a frozen fry option, while only 64% said the same for a hand-cut fry. And for delivery, 40% chose the frozen option, vs. just 30% who preferred the hand-cut option.¹

In other words, you could actually be losing out on these off-premise occasions and orders if hand-cut fries are offered.

Frozen fries are the all-around winner

It’s not always the case that consumers prefer the option that is also the easiest operational choice, but that’s true for fries.

For any product or ingredient, you have to ask yourself if the effort is worthwhile. Will the diner notice? Will it bring in more customers? Will they pay more? But that’s more true than ever considering the continued labor crunch most operators are dealing with.

For fries, frozen options cut down on waste, save on labor, hold up better for off-premise occasions, cook up faster and hold longer, and they have the texture that consumers prefer. They’re an operational no-brainer.

Win over your customer with Simplot Conquest® frozen fries

Now you know that consumers prefer frozen fries to hand-cut options, but there are still a wide range of frozen fry products to meet every need you have.

Consider Simplot’s Conquest® line, which goes all-in on that crunchy exterior that consumers said is most important to them. Simplot Conquest® fries have an invisible coating that gives them a lasting crispness, with a whopping triple the hold time of conventional fries.

And for those all-important off-premise occasions, Simplot’s Conquest® Delivery+® options are designed to work equally well for dine-in and drive-thru or delivery occasions, staying crisp for an unprecedented 40 minutes or longer.

The research is clear: consumers not only prefer frozen fries, but they’ll go out of their way to get them. Frozen fries are the winning option.

¹ French Fry Concept Analysis Summary Report, Datassential, March 2025
¹ Launches and Ratings, Datassential, February 2025