# Basic American Foods

> Basic American Foods is a family-owned food production company founded in 1933 and headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. It is the world's largest producer of dehydrated potato products, best known for Potato Pearls premium mashed potatoes, Golden Grill hash browns, and Santiago refried beans. The company serves foodservice operators, retail consumer brands, and food manufacturers through its ingredients business, sourcing potatoes from prime growing regions in Idaho and Washington.

- **Founded:** 1933
- **Headquarters:** Walnut Creek, California, United States
- **Founders:** Jaquelin H. Hume (Co-founder), William Hume (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** ~1,300 employees
- **Products:** Potato Pearls, Golden Grill, Santiago Beans, Idaho Spuds, Brilliant Beginnings
- **Notable:** World's largest potato dehydration company, Holds roughly 40 patents for food production, Claims approximately three-quarters of the North American dehydrated potato granule market

## Products & services

- **Potato Pearls** — Premium dehydrated mashed potatoes that rehydrate with boiling water; a flagship foodservice and retail brand.
- **Golden Grill** — Russet hash brown potatoes for foodservice operators.
- **Santiago Beans** — Dehydrated refried and seasoned black beans, plus Quick-Start chili, using a bean-dehydration technique pioneered in 1986.
- **Idaho Spuds** — Retail consumer brand of mashed potato and potato products made with USA-grown potatoes.
- **Brilliant Beginnings** — Ingredient and foodservice potato line.
- **Ingredients business** — Custom dry potato and legume ingredient formulas supplied to food manufacturers for R&D and production.

## Achievements

- World's largest potato dehydration company
- Holds roughly 40 patents for food production
- Claims approximately three-quarters of the North American dehydrated potato granule market
- Family owned and operating for more than 90 years
- Pioneered dehydrated refried beans (Santiago) in 1986

## Latest updates

- **2013-02** — Acquired the dehydrated potato unit from Nonpareil, expanding processing capacity.
- **2010-08** — Announced the sale of its refrigerated potato business to focus on dehydrated products.

## Links

- Website: https://baf.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/basic-american-foods
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basicamericanfoods/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basicamericanfoods/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/basic-american-foods
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-02