The company is one of the UK's largest players in the industry and has invested £500,000 in developing the Restrain process to treat potatoes in cold store and limit sprouting without the use of industry standard CIPC chemicals.

Research began five years ago and now Greenvale AP, which is approaching UKROFS to gain organic certification for Restrain, should be able to supply its potatoes virtually free of chemical residues.

'The Restrain treatment is applied while the produce is in cold store and a combination of the treatment and the control of temperature tests show that there are no detectable residues and the environment is safe,' said the company's marketing manager Jayne Davies.

Restrain is a gas made from natural plant hormones and so it leaves no residue.

Paul Coleman, technical manager explained: 'We set out to reduce residues as there has been growing consumer concern about this issue. And one easy win is to remove post-harvest chemical use which is responsible for about 95 per cent of residues,' said Coleman.

Greenvale AP reports that the move has been welcomed by its major customers Sainsbury's and Tesco, which are already experiencing the benefits on their supplies of ware. Both stores were also involved from the beginning of the project and have been instrumental at the commercial trials stage.

Coleman believes that the development is also unique in the produce industry for other reasons. 'There does not seem to be a precedent set where a produce company has developed from the beginning through to the marketplace a product that is usually in the territory of chemicals manufacturers,' he said. 'It has required a lot of investment to get to the stage we're at.' The British Potato Council has been very interested in the development too. 'Restrain offers a realistic alternative to the chemical process,' said Adrian Briddon at the BPC's Sutton Bridge Experimental Unit. 'There has been a lot of pressure from groups such as Friends of the Earth to move away from synthetic chemicals and this will be the start of a bigger trend. Restrain is a big step in the right direction.' The process is exclusive to Greenvale AP, which is offering other designated packers for the two stores the opportunity to use the process under licence at cost. And with the closing date for expressions of interest looming, the company is confident uptake will be high. Specialist equipment has also been developed to administer Restrain in partnership with International Controlled Atmospheres which has a patent pending on parts of the system.

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