Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JANUARY 2022 35 VARIETIES means we can swap the varieties in the pack depending on the season, the conditions and availability. It ensures customers get the best potatoes whenever and wherever they purchase the product. They can buy the same product and cook it in the same way week in, week out with very similar results. It’s about giving consumers a consistently good experience.” Richard agreed: “Over the last 12 months – and for the first time in over 10 years- we’ve had an increase in the fresh potatoes. With the pandemic, people have returned to cooking from scratch and eating at home. Fresh sales have been up 15-18% year-on-year. “If youwant consumers, and in particular younger people, to eat potatoes, they need a good experience when they take it home and cook it. The industry lost sight of that through the 80s and 90s. A lot of varieties came on the scene whichwere great production varieties, capable of producing huge yields, but tasted awful. “It is why Maris Pipers have endured for a long time. It’s an old variety but it tastes good. King Edwards is another example. They were first bred back in 1902 and has stood the test of time because they make really fluffy roast potatoes and taste superb.” It is another reason why Richard is so excited about the future of Manitou. “It’s better than the best red currently in the market and it is relatively straightforward to grow.” Growability While Manitou is considered straight forward to grow, like all varieties, there are nuances to optimising its performance in the field. Tom Pocklington is responsible for AKP’s own acreage and has grown Manitou since it first went into their trial plots in 2013. “Manitou is grower-friendly,” he said. “Today I’ve around 150 acres, making it my largest acreage of fresh pack potatoes. “A lot of the other red varieties are susceptible to scab but Manitou isn’t. It’s why we’ve confident in growing it on the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wolds where we don’t have any irrigation. It copes with hot weather; even in the summer of 2018 it grew well.” While the breeder’s notes say standard nitrogen rates are sufficient for the variety, Tom has scaled back applications. “Manitou has vigorous top growth,” he explains. “That, and the loss of desiccants means we’ve tweaked nitrogen back in recent years. We don’t want a crop that is too green or lush come harvest time.” Tom says skin set takes around four weeks. “We learnt in the early years, that Manitou favours fuller bodied soil types with good clay and mineral content. On sandier land the skins can get scuffed when we’re lifting the crop and they don’t keep as well. “When it comes to harvest, Manitou has proven to be fairly robust and isn’t too susceptible to bruising. Together these characteristics make it a relatively easy potato to grow.” Sustainability They are increasingly important for Morrisons too. With its subsidiary ‘Morrisions Growers’, it has a vested interested in on- farm production efficiencies and across its portfolio of farming, food manufacture and retail, achieving net zero is at the forefront of management’s minds. “As a sector, farming and food production has a significant contribution to make to meeting the government’s ambitions,” Gareth said. “On the surface it may seem like varietal choice has little to do with these ambitions but where we’re able to grow crops with characteristics like disease resistance, for example, we can reduce the use of crop protection products and save the energy associated with their production and application. “Likewise with varieties with lower nitrogen requirements or drought tolerance. When you add up the impact of growing newer varieties with these sorts of characteristics, it can make a considerable difference to the carbon footprint of the farm and the supply chain.” It takes a minimum of 12 years to bring a new variety to market and is one of the reasons Morrisons have invested into vertically integrating its supply chain. Today Morrisons is working closely with breeders and growers to ensure new varieties in the pipeline have the characteristics they need for their consumers, for their suppliers and for the wider environment. “For too long the process of bringing new varieties to market has been ‘chicken and egg’. There are significant costs and risks for breeders and growers, especially where there’s no proven end-market. “When Morrisons established its procurement arm ‘Morrisons Growers’, the company. We can deal direct with growers and have a closer involvement in terms of what’s being grown and what’s being supplied to the manufacturing and retail businesses. We’re working more closely with breeders too. Narrowing the gaps along the supply chain gives us all confidence and the closer we all work together, the more likely we will achieve our aims,” said Gareth. “For too long the process of bringing new varieties to market has been ‘chicken and egg’. There are significant costs and risks for breeders and growers, especially where there’s no proven end-market.” Gareth Cosford, Trade Manager, Morrisons Manitou was the best-performing variety in a panel test at Abertay University.

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