The J. R. Simplot Company (commonly referred to as Simplot) is an
agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
company headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
History
Simplot was founded in 1929 by 20-year-old
John Richard Simplot near the agricultural community of
Declo in south central
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, United States. During the early 1940s, the business expanded, providing the military dehydrated
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...
s and
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The firm was incorporated as the J. R. Simplot Company in 1955.
Simplot made billions from the commercialization of frozen
French fries
French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
by one of its scientists, chemist Ray L. Dunlap. By the early 1970s, it was the primary supplier of French fries to
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
. By 2005 it supplied more than half of all French fries for the
fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
chain. Simplot also produces fertilizers for agriculture the mining of which has been a cause of recent environmental concerns.
Simplot is now one of the largest
privately owned
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
companies in the world (ranked 54th in Private Companies by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine in 2020), with $7.6B in revenue and 13,000 employees. It has branches in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and several other regions. One of the major plants is in
Caldwell, Idaho
Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho. The population was 59,996 at the time of the 2020 United States census.
Caldwell is considered part of the Boise metropolitan area. Caldwell is the location of ...
.
![J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/J._R._Simplot_Company_%22World%27s_largest_dehydrating_plant%22.jpg)
J. R. Simplot retired as president of his company in 1973, but remained involved for many years. He stepped down as chairman of the board in 1994, and held the title of Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2008.
Philanthropy
Since its founding, J. R. Simplot Company has contributed to numerous local organizations and causes, including
Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.
RMHC has a global network of c ...
,
WWF-Australia,
Boys and Girls Clubs,
Future Farmers of America
National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...
, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital, and the
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...
. Much of the company’s philanthropic efforts are directed by employees serving on the company’s volunteer service committee. The Simplot Company has donated thousands of pounds of potatoes to the Idaho Foodbank and the Boise Rescue Mission. They have also provided monetary support for the arts throughout Idaho including Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, and the Boise Philharmonic.
In 2009, Simplot Company was awarded the Spirit of Treasure Valley award by the
United Way
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016.
United Way organizations raise funds ...
of Treasure Valley.
Environmental record
In February 2002, Simplot agreed to buy equipment and pay penalties related to an unreported release of 80,000 pounds of
sulphur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
from a facility in
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...
. The company violated the
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 is a United States federal law passed by the 99th United States Congress located at Title 42, Chapter 116 of the U.S. Code, concerned with emergency response preparedness.
On October ...
by failing to immediately notify the Power and Bannock Counties' Local Emergency Planning Committees or the State Emergency Response Commission of the release.
In February 2004, J.R. Simplot Company agreed to pay the
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
$525,000 and install $2 million in air pollution control equipment to resolve violations of the federal
Clean Air Act at its silica sand mining facility in
Overton, Nevada
Overton is a community that is part of the unincorporated town of Moapa Valley in Clark County, Nevada. Overton is on the north end of Lake Mead. It is home to Perkins Field airport and Echo Bay Airport.
History
Overton was originally settle ...
. The violation occurred in 1988 when the company removed equipment required by the federal Clean Air Act to control emissions of air pollutants.
In early 2012, Simplot submitted a report to the Environmental Protection Agency to explain its view regarding how and why pollution limits could be eased in phosphate mine areas, and linking to livestock die-offs of sheep and cattle in other areas.
Simplot is one of six major companies to join the
Obama Administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
in an effort to significantly reduce energy use over the next 10 years. The company has received a number of awards, including the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining's
Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
award for the environmental work completed in Nevada.
In June 2012, Simplot partnered with two conservation groups and three
phosphate mining
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt (chemistry), salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acids and phosphates, phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of phosphoric acid, orthophosphoric a ...
companies in an effort to improve the water quality of the
Blackfoot River in
Eastern Idaho
Eastern Idaho is the area of Idaho lying east of the Magic Valley region. It is generally understood to include: Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Power and ...
. The parties are: J.R. Simplot Company,
Monsanto
The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...
and
Agrium
Agrium was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in Nor ...
/Nu-West Industries, the
Idaho Conservation League The Idaho Conservation League (ICL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to protecting Idaho's environment. "The ICL preserves Idaho's clean water, wilderness and quality of life through citizen action, public education, and professional ...
and
Trout Unlimited
Trout Unlimited (TU) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Th ...
.
More recently, Simplot settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice resolving alleged Clean Air Act violations related to modifications made at Simplot's five sulfuric acid plants near Lathrop, Calif., Pocatello, Idaho and Rock Springs, Wyo. Under the settlement, Simplot was required to spend an estimated $42 million to install, upgrade and operate pollution controls that significantly cut sulfur dioxide emissions at all five plants, fund a wood stove replacement project in the area surrounding the Lathrop plant, and pay an $899,000 civil penalty. The company settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice resolving Simplot’s liability for alleged violations at the Rock Springs, Wyoming facility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), including failure to determine if a solid waste is a hazardous waste (40 C.F.R. § 262.11); treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste in the phosphogypsum (gypsum) stack without a permit or interim status (42 U.S.C. § 6925(a) and 40 C.F.R. Parts 264/265 and 270); failure to perform land disposal determinations and to meet land disposal restrictions for hazardous wastes (40 C.F.R. Part 268); and failure to submit complete Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) annual toxic release reports (42 U.S.C. § 11023 and the implementing regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 372). Simplot agree to pay a civil penalty of $775,000 to resolve the alleged past violations of RCRA and EPCRA. In 2021, Simplot agreed to pay a $65,248 penalty for violations of federal pesticide handling and storage requirements at its storage and retail facilities in Umatilla, Oregon and Moreland, Idaho.
Genetically modified potatoes
Simplot developed the genetically modified Innate potato, which was approved by the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
in 2014 and the
FDA
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...
in 2015. It is designed to resist
blackspot bruising,
browning and to contain less of the
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
asparagine
Asparagine (symbol Asn or N) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the depro ...
.
Asparagine can become
acrylamide
Acrylamide (or acrylic amide) is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH2=CHC(O)NH2. It is a white odorless solid, soluble in water and several organic solvents. From the chemistry perspective, acrylamide is a vinyl-substituted primary ...
during the frying of potatoes and is a probable human
carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...
, so reduced levels of it are desirable.
The 'Innate' name comes from the fact that this variety does not contain any genetic material from other species (the genes used are “