More than 1,500 “potatoholics” gathered at Grand Forks Town Square on Aug. 25 to welcome Agristo, the Belgium-based potato processor, at the “Taste of Belgium” celebration.
The sunny North Dakota day set the stage for an event filled with Belgian food, giveaways, Belgian beer, live entertainment, and family activities. The highlight for many was Agristo’s signature golden, crispy fries, served hot and free, drawing long lines of eager attendees returning for seconds and thirds.
Members of Agristo’s leadership team, including Kristof Wallays, Chief of Global Expansion, Innovation and Sustainability; Antoon Wallays, Agristo Co-Founder; and Ruben Devos, Project Director and new Grand Forks resident, addressed the crowd. They emphasized the company’s dedication to investing in the region.
Local leaders also spoke, including Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski, Lt. Governor Michelle Strinden, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, and Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Keith Lund.
“Today is truly about the future – it’s about the future of the Grand Forks region and it’s about the future of Agristo. And starting today, we’re no longer going to be talking about those two separately. From now on it’s our shared future and our future together,” said Mayor Bochenski.
Agristo signed a development agreement with the City of Grand Forks earlier that day. The company plans to break ground this fall on a $450 million potato processing facility, with full operations expected by early 2028. The project will initially create 200 permanent jobs, growing to more than 350 positions at full capacity, with a commitment to source potatoes locally.
“When my parents and their friends started our company in the eighties, on the farm of my grandfather, we couldn’t imagine that we would be standing here today,” said Kristof Wallays. “We have built this company bit by bit and entering the US market always seemed a faraway dream. But this really is the land of dreams, and we are now at a point where we can make this dream a reality.”
The weekend wrapped with a growers’ meeting in Hoople, North Dakota, where 200 farmers joined for a field tour and lunch presentation. The event highlighted potato varieties such as Fontane, a processing potato valued for large tubers and high yields, reinforcing the vital connection between seed potato growers and processors.
An official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for April 2026 to mark the construction of Agristo’s Grand Forks facility.
