IDAHO 500 | 

Blaine Larsen

Organization
Larsen Farms
Title
CEO

When skeptics said 80 acres of Idaho desert would never yield a crop worth selling, Blaine Larsen proved them spectacularly wrong. What they didn’t know was that ancient volcanic forces from nearby Yellowstone had created perfect potato-growing conditions beneath that seemingly barren landscape.

Larsen’s most significant recent accomplishment has been building one of America’s largest potato operations, Larsen Farms, now spanning thousands of acres across Idaho, Colorado and Nebraska with global distribution networks.

Larsen founded the family business in 1966, transforming his initial desert plot into a vertically integrated agricultural empire. The company grows, packs and distributes potatoes under its own brand while also producing processed potato products including crushed, diced, dehydrated and sliced varieties for major food manufacturers like Frito-Lay and Procter & Gamble’s Pringles operation.

Under his leadership, Larsen Farms has developed expertise spanning biochemistry to marketing, operating sophisticated packing facilities that gently clean each potato with fresh water and utilize electronic bagging machinery to meet exacting quality standards for retail and foodservice customers worldwide.

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