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FARMERS OPTIMISTIC FOR BUMPER JERSEY ROYAL CROP AFTER RECENT POOR RETURNS

Tesco

23 March 2009

Jersey farmers
are optimistic for a bumper crop of Royal potatoes this season
following the last two years when extreme heavy rain seriously
damaged production.
Planting of the
famous Jersey Royals started one month earlier than normal in a bid
to catch up with lost sales and the result is that the crop is a
record three week earlier crop than normal.
Jersey Royals are
widely regarded as the champagne of the potato world and are the
biggest export from the island.
This year growers
received further good news after striking a major deal with Tesco
to supply the supermarket with the first of this year’s
outdoor crop which will go on sale on Monday March 23.
Said Tesco potato
buyer Jonathan Corbett: “British shoppers love Jersey Royals
which are rightly acknowledged as the best spuds in the business so
it’s good news for both farmers and customers.
“Not only
do Royals taste like no other potato but they are also evocative of
the summer months when they are on sale so they bring about a feel
good factor that salad days are here.
“Last year
Jersey Royal growers suffered the worst harvest in living memory
after extremely and prolonged heavy rainful when the potatoes
literally had to be dug out of the ground aided by
tractors.”
The earliest
outdoor Jersey Royals are traditionally planted on steep, south
facing slopes known locally as
Côtils and are covered with a
plastic mulch to protect them from the elements.
These early slopes have this
year produced great quality early crops - aided by the warmest late
winter Jersey weather for a number of years.
Plantings have significantly
increased this year by 20 per cent. If placed side by side this
season’s crops - all of which are hand planted, dug &
graded - would reach from Jersey’s famous Gorey castle
to Sydney Opera House.
Barrie Hamel,
production director for the Jersey Royal Company said: “We
planted in this one particularly sheltered area of the island in
early December with setting a growing record firmly in
mind.
“It is the
earliest I have ever planted outdoor Royals for export and we have
been closely monitoring the progress of the crop throughout winter.
I am thrilled with the way they turned out.”
British supermarkets sell £35 million of
Jersey Royals each year which accounts for nearly half of all
potatoes bought during spring and summer.
Last year
production was particularly badly hit after the island suffered the
heaviest rainfall for at least 35 years.

For more
information please contact Mike Baess on 01992 646079
or Tesco Press
Office on 01992 644645.
Note to
editors:
Facts about
Jersey Royals
·              
Jersey Royals account for 75 per cent of all UK potato sales when
in season
·              
They are the only British fresh product that has EU protection of
designation of origin.
·              
They are usually planted in January and harvested from March until
June when the season ends.
·              
The potatoes are planted on slopes and are then hand lifted as the
slopes are too steep for machinery.
·              
The Jersey Royal has been grown on the island for over 100 years
and is the first New Potato of the season.