All too busy in retirement to make your own chips?
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Problem is that the potatoes are generally crap for chips - they don’t stay crisp (and we don’t have a deep fat fryer any more)
Not here. We’re firmly a buy the potatoes, peel them, cut them and deep fry them household. Not often though. We get Bintje for chips from Grand Frais usually. We grow waxy potatoes for everything else in the summer/autumn.
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Perhaps they have more exciting activities occupying their time. 
Which is just a re phrasing of my question 
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I never have had one, but I achieve a pretty good result by coating the cut potatoes (never, ever, peeled) in olive oil and roasting or grilling them in the so mis-named air fryer.
After spending most of my working life in the potato trade , I have the following comments.
Yes, McCains steak cut fries should meet your need for thick cut chips. But the packs will include small length fries, because whole potatoes pass through the factory’s line cutters .
Should you want to make home, thick cut fries, then I would recommend commercial chipping potato varieties eg BINTJE , Fontaine, AGRIA, or Markies .
For chips you need a higher dry matter , so the fries will absorb less oil on cooking.
The potatoes should not be kept in a fridge because this will turn starch to sugar giving darker coloured fries .
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The packet of steak cut fries I checked in the supermarket were very thin. Maybe there’s some variation between brands or in the same brand.
Storing potatoes we find problematic. If we store them out of the fridge they start sprouting very quickly. The garage is warmer than the living areas.
Since living here I’ve found that I needed to change my shopping timings for fruit and veg. Gone are the days when I did a big shop and stored things for a week or two. Fruit in particular is sold ripe here so needs to be eaten within a very few days. I’ve found something simiar with veg, even potatoes, although the reason is less obvious for them! We now tend to buy less fresh fruit and veg at a time but around twice a week…
I find this too - we used to keep spuds in a ventilated box in a cupboard in the garage but now I put them in a fridge otherwise tendrils appear pretty quickly.
I suspect there may be a Brexit factor in this -
Sainsbury’s also imports potatoes from countries like Egypt, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and Israel to ensure a consistent supply and variety.
So the spuds are not going to be very fresh by the time they get to us in Sud-Angleterre, unless it’s UK spud growing season.
Also, apart from baking potatoes they only sell spuds in packs so you can’t buy a small quantity.
And yes I know I should buy from a reputable greengrocer instead… 
As the UK’s most prominent greengrocer, Gregg Wallace suggests that ‘reputable greengrocer’ may now be an oxymoron.
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Thank you for your comments .
The 12 month supply calendar includes imports to give loose skin potatoes . Israel, Egypt, Cyprus and Jersey being the significant supply countries.
The majority of set skin potatoes are grown in the UK, and retained in temperature controlled box storage at a tuber temperature of around 2° C.
It is normal practice to use ex store tonnages until sometimes even to September for red skinned varieties.
Limited tonnages of Imports from Europe are used for both chipping and supermarket sales.
Brexit has limited UK export sales , as the UK was negotiated to have 3rd country status.
Now all loads carry extra costs of phytosanitary inspections, clean bags, and sterilized pallets .
These extra costs plus the time factor mean that UK exports are not economically viable nor could compete time wise with EU suppliers.
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We are now ar the end of the “old crop” ex store season.
The fresh new crops have a bright more attractive skin finish, taste better ( no cold store tuber sweetening) and have lower waste .
Plus old cold stored crops coming out of low temperature to a warm supermarket environment will soon break dormancy and have “chits” developing.
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Thanks for the explanation!
Netto had some yesterday.
That’s the abbreviated version !!!
Are there still quotas on acreage in the Uk since Brexit? Surely the UK with an investment by the government could up self sufficieniancy.
They are the traditionally used potato used for Belgische friets. There are still a few Frituurs that still cook in horse fat.
Every time I go to Belgium I have to eat friets with mayonnaise.
How about sweet potato chips as the potato is not a “health food”