During the main Israeli season product is mainly received through the port of Immingham prior to grading in the UK, but in recent times Agrexco has bought more pre-graded material directly from Israel to its contract packer, DGM Growers.
Throughout the UK season the potatoes are mainly grown in Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk,” says Gavin Gill, technical procurement manager at DGM. “The varieties we produce are well-recognised new potato and salad varieties such as Carlingford, Nicola, and Charlotte. These are waxy varieties that do well on a plate and have a superb taste. Skin quality is also very important and these are all set-skin as opposed to fluffy because they hold up well and are a lot more durable.”
The hot weather across Europe has added to a situation of shortages in a lot of produce lines. But, says Gill, this year's small crop has remained unscathed largely due to the fact that the small size potatoes haven't had to be left in the ground too long. “Hot weather can affect larger sizes because the crops can die, or just stop growing altogether before the potatoes have reached the right size if the temperatures are too high.
“Although it's still too early to know for sure, I'm optimistic that these crops won't have been adversely affected.”
A healthy crop of salad potatoes should fare well in a UK marketplace that has seen its fair share of shortages this season.
“There is a lot more competition in this market but through our link-up with DGM we are able to offer our customers quality and continuity of the Carmel brand, 52-weeks a year,” says Agrexco projects manager Terry Bryan.
Carmel potatoes have held their own in a crowded market and although Agrexco has been packing potatoes this way for the past five years, Bryan believes this is a record year in terms of a demand that is showing no signs of slowing. “Originally we decided to target this market because we had an excess in that size but it has really taken off now and the 10kg box is a well-accepted pack. The French have been marketing a 12.5kg box, but I believe the are now reverting to the standard 10kg,” he says.
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