The Albany Gazette - Stolon Superfoods Ignites National Restaurant Show with Explosive Launch of Hand-Cut, Seed Oil Free Fry Platform

CHICAGO, IL / ACCESS Newswire / May 21, 2026 / Stolon Superfoods made one thing clear at this year's National Restaurant Association Show: America is ready for a better fry.

The emerging foodservice brand unveiled what many chefs called the most exciting potato innovation in decades: the restaurant industry's first hand-cut, seed oil free fry platform, delivering fresh-cut style fries made with premium potatoes and avocado oil, without the labor, inconsistency, or industrial ingredients that dominate the category today.

What started in Charleston five years ago, then grew to hundreds of restaurants across the Carolinas, arrived at the NRA Show as a fully realized national platform. The response was explosive.

Over four days at McCormick Place, Stolon engaged more than 5,000 restaurant locations spanning national restaurant chains, hotels, healthcare systems, universities, major K-12 school systems, resorts, stadiums, and independent restaurants from across the United States.

THE LAUNCH THAT BLANKETED CHICAGO

The launch extended far beyond the convention center floor. Stolon saturated Chicago with more than 60 digital billboards, deployed over 2,000 branded shirts throughout the city and show floor, and generated millions of impressions around a simple, blunt message: "YOUR FRIES SUCK." America Deserves Better. Go Seed Oil Free.

The campaign struck a nerve. Because operators agreed. Repeatedly.

"We used to debate who had the best fry. But honestly, every fry kind of sucked. We were just arguing about who sucked the least. Until now."

Then they tried Stolon. The reaction from chefs and operators on the show floor was immediate:

"I've been in this industry 22 years. I have never said this about a frozen fry: I would put this on any menu I've ever run and brag about it to everybody."

-- Regional Director of Operations, Regional Burger Chain

A CATEGORY-SHIFTING PLATFORM

At the core of the Stolon fry platform is a deceptively simple idea: hand-cut quality and seed oil free cooking should not require a trade-off with performance, consistency, or margin.

Stolon's hand-cut style frozen fries are steam-blanched and flash-frozen at peak freshness, then par-fried in avocado oil to deliver a crisp exterior, fluffy interior, and extended hold times under real service conditions. A proprietary process achieves industry-leading hold times without coatings, gums, or chemical additives commonly found in conventional frozen fries.

At the core of the platform is Stolon's signature two-ingredient white fry: Regenerative Potatoes and Avocado Oil. Nothing else. Paired with Stolon's high-performance avocado fry oil, the system allows restaurants to eliminate seed oils entirely while maintaining speed, consistency, and margin.

"Every restaurant in my area is serving the same frozen fry out of the same bag. I walked out of that booth with a completely different idea, a hand-cut wedge chip platter, two clean ingredients, cooked in avocado oil, positioned as a signature appetizer. That is not a side item anymore. That is a reason to come in."

-- Independent restaurant owner

"My bar crowd does not want another slider. They want something craveable, shareable, and worth talking about. A seed oil free, hand-cut fry program, wedges for the table, loaded fries at the bar, toppings that change with the season, that is the appetizer menu my martini crowd has been waiting for. Clean ingredients, big flavor, and honestly a better margin than half my entrees."

-- Independent restaurant owner

NOT ANOTHER FRY. A CHEF GROWTH ENGINE.

Stolon's ambition extends well beyond replacing what's in the fryer. The company is positioning its platform as a Chef Growth Engine, a tool that transforms the fry from a commodity side item into the centerpiece of a restaurant's identity and traffic-driving story.

Consumers increasingly choose restaurants based on ingredient transparency, seed oil free cooking, premium preparation, and craveable signature items. Stolon believes fries can now become the reason guests choose one restaurant over another and keep coming back.

Operators at the show described the product as:

• Hand-cut quality without the prep labor

• Seed oil free without sacrificing flavor or performance

• Premium enough to become a menu signature

• Craveable enough to drive repeat traffic

"Chefs care deeply about where their proteins come from, how their sauces are made, what is in their kitchen. Then the fry just got a pass. That never made sense to us. We built the fry that deserves to be on the same menu as everything else a great chef is doing."

-- Steve Carroll, Restaurant Guru, Stolon Superfoods

FROM CHARLESTON TO NATIONAL SCALE

What began as a local Charleston fry program has evolved into a scalable foodservice platform. With strong adoption across the Carolinas, Stolon is now expanding nationwide following its NRA Show debut. Drivers of adoption include:

• Rising consumer awareness around seed oils

• Labor constraints in restaurant kitchens

• Demand for clean-label ingredients

• Premium menu positioning opportunities

"Guests are not confused about seed oils anymore. They know, they care, and they are making decisions based on it. The restaurants that get ahead of that conversation now are the ones that win the next five years."

-- Alec Warren, Executive Director, Stolon Superfoods

THE NEW FRY STANDARD

Stolon's launch signals a broader shift in how restaurants think about one of their most foundational menu items. For decades, restaurants competed over burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and sauces. The fry station was the last unreformed corner of the American kitchen.

Not just fries. It's about eliminating prep and delivering a consistent hand-cut experience at every ticket, every shift. Not just oil. It's about what the oil represents to your guests about your ingredient standards.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Stolon's NRA Show launch generated immediate national media attention. The company's platform announcement was distributed via USA Today / ACCESS Newswire. The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) published an in-depth feature on Stolon's Charleston roots, rapid restaurant adoption, and the chef community's embrace of seed oil free frying.

About Stolon Superfoods

Stolon Superfoods was founded by chefs, growers, and clean-food rebels who believe great food starts with authentic, clean ingredients. The company produces hand-cut style frozen fries and seed oil free frying systems for restaurants using regeneratively grown potatoes that are steam-blanched, flash-frozen at peak freshness, and par-fried in avocado oil. Built for kitchens that care about ingredient transparency and performance, Stolon helps operators deliver craveable fries without seed oils, industrial shortcuts, or back-of-house labor tradeoffs.

Built for Performance Chefs. Loved by Demanding Guests.

Media Contact:

Grace Mogul
Stolon Superfoods, LLC
[email protected]
(843) 212-6864

SOURCE: Stolon Superfoods LLC

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(S.Perez--TAG)