Vales Sovereign, a new potato from Greenvale AP, won the Variety of the Year accolade in the Tesco Fresh Produce Category Awards

The coveted Variety of the Year award looks at all produce, including fruit as well as vegetables, and the Greenvale team was “overjoyed” when their “humble spud” was crowned king of the till.

Paul Coleman, technical director of Greenvale, said: “We are delighted to win this award for Vales Sovereign. The variety has now firmly established itself within the Tesco offering."

Greenvale AP is the UK's largest supplier of fresh potatoes and its new potato variety was bred for both flavour and versatility.

Vales Sovereign had trials with Tesco in 2007 and generated sales of 25,000 tonnes in 2008, projected to rise to 40,000t in 2009.

"Vales Sovereign resulted from our collaboration with the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI). It has been well received by growers and consumers alike. The variety has proved to be a robust performer on unirrigated land and has a reduced requirement for nitrogen fertiliser, qualities which are hugely important for the environment and control of growing costs," said Coleman.

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