Greenvale AP is licensed by both the Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers to pack organic potatoes, and works closely with leading UK and overseas organic producers to meet this ever-increasing demand.
“Having been involved in organic potato packing for more than five years, Greenvale AP is now established as the largest packer of organic potatoes in the UK providing year-round continuity of supplies to major multiple retailers and processors,” says Alan Owens, chief executive of the company.
Greenvale AP currently utilises 15 varieties for organic production including established varieties such as Jersey Royal and new varieties including Lady Balfour, which was launched by Greenvale AP in 2002.
Greenvale AP works closely with Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) to specifically breed and select varieties with multiple disease resistance. The Lady Balfour variety, bred at SCRI was named after Lady Eve Balfour a pioneer of the organic movement and founder of the Soil Association in 1946. The variety has rapidly gained popularity with organic growers and is the first potato variety to be developed exclusively for organic production and is now used as the standard in NIAB’s independent trials. Lady Balfour uniquely combines high yields with excellent blight, PCN and other disease resistance with good eating quality.
Other varieties in development will be aimed at organic salad potato and organic processing production.
Greenvale AP boasts a widely experienced agronomy team, intimately involved in all aspects of the production process both at home and overseas - enabling growers to deliver potatoes of the desired quality at an economic price to a wide range of customers. A specialised breeding program in conjunction with SCRI is developing more new varieties specifically suited to organic production.
As market leader Greenvale is continuing to develop organic techniques to allow it to grow this host of different varieties. “Our commitment to the development of improved organic produce has led to the continued investment of the Greenvale AP development programme with the SCRI,” says Paul Coleman, Greenvale AP’s head of technical and agronomy. “We are now starting to see the culmination of 15 years work supporting the quest for the best ever tasting, blight resistant variety. The clones we are researching are among the most pest resistant ever developed.”
Greenvale also manages and packs the variety Pink Fir Apple. This traditional type, dating back to the 1850s is noted for its knobbly appearance and nutty taste. The yellow texture within the waxy skin makes the potatoes ideal for salads and casseroles as they do not break up during cooking. Ideal for boiling, the irregular tubers are best cooked whole with the skin on.
Greenvale AP believes itself to be the first company to offer full traceability to the consumer through the organic supply chain via the website www.potatoinfo.org
The company has invested in dedicated organic packing lines and purpose built dedicated facilities at its Tern Hill and Floods Ferry sites where all organic potatoes are boxed, stored and graded in facilities dedicated to organic produce. Greenvale is audited by UK organic sector bodies and all growers are visited regularly by agronomy staff and audited to ensure that the integrity of Greenvale organic produce is not compromised at any point from seed to table.
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