The UK’s largest fresh potato company Greenvale AP has received the Queen’s Award 2006 for Innovation, a prestigious accolade awarded to UK businesses.
Accepting the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Mr Hugh Duberly, CBE, at its Floods Ferry site in Doddington, Greenvale’s financial director Andy Behagg said: “The award first and foremost is recognition of all the hard work, dedication and commitment of the 750 staff here. We would like to thank them all - without them, Greenvale does not exist.”
Greenvale won the award for developing several commercial innovations. Chiefly, its Restrain System - a machine that helps to keep potatoes and onions in optimum condition through producing and maintaining a stable atmosphere of ethylene within large or small stores. Taking over six years to develop, the machine is a joint venture between Greenvale AP and International Controlled Atmosphere (ICA) through their company, Restrain Company Ltd, set up to sell and market the system in the UK and abroad.
Greenvale also recently developed the De-Cyst - a plant that controls the potato cyst Nematode without the need for pesticides, and Accumulator - a seed manipulation technique that encourages more tubers per plant.
To win the award, Greenvale also had to demonstrate a commitment to ethical trading and its local community.
“Innovation is and has always been part of our success. It sets us apart from our competitors and keeps us at the forefront of our industry,” Behagg said, adding that progress in other areas was ongoing and that the company would continue its work developing innovative new ideas.
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