Lamb Weston Personifies Innovation
From the beginning, Lamb Weston has set the standard in the frozen potato business, leading the way with innovative processing technology and new products.
In 1960, F. Gilbert "Gib" Lamb, co-founder of Lamb Weston, invented and patented the Lamb Water Gun Knife, which is now hailed as the industry standard worldwide. Lamb came up with the idea after he built and opened the first Lamb Weston potato processing plant in eastern Idaho. He wanted a faster method of cutting potatoes than the knife box he created that used cranks, levers, cams, plunger and springs to deliver potatoes through a series of knives mounted inside stainless steel tubes. His "out-of-the-box" thinking got him to wonder if a higher velocity would carry the potatoes through the knife box. He sought the help of a pitcher from the company's softball team who successfully hurled potatoes through the device.
During the potato pitching, someone had the idea of stuffing a bunch of potatoes into a nearby fire hose and shooting them through the knife box. After a few tries, they were able to shoot a few potatoes through the knife with a stream of water, successfully slicing them. The Lamb Water Gun Knife was born.
Gib's innovative spirit lives on through decades of innovative new products, like My Fries, Stealth Fries, GENERATION 7 Fries and LW Private Reserve. Other specialized equipment the company has created include the Automatic Defect Removal System, that uses infrared light and a series of blades to remove defective potato pieces, and the Water Turbo Cutting System, that delivers unique french fry cuts such as Twisters (curly fries).
