🤠This Week in the West

📢 Episode Summary:

The episode explores how Simplot’s early experiments with dehydrating and storing potatoes led to massive government contracts during World War II. But his most transformative contribution came in the 1950s, when his company developed a process to freeze precooked French fries. That innovation aligned perfectly with the rise of fast food, culminating in a historic deal with McDonald’s that forever changed how Americans eat—and launched Simplot’s business into the stratosphere.

Listeners also get a glimpse into the larger-than-life personality behind the empire. Simplot was more than a businessman; he was a true Westerner. He built the country’s largest cattle ranch, invested in technology, and maintained a plainspoken, boot-wearing presence well into his 90s. Despite becoming one of America’s wealthiest men, he never lost his frontier pragmatism or his deep roots in the land that raised him.

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