Expectations for this year's Jersey Royal new potato season are high and exports are estimated at 40,000 tonnes. Harvesting has been put back to April 7 due to sharp overnight frosts, but all indications point to a largely unaffected crop.

Mike Renouard, technical manager at Top Produce, suppliers of Jersey Royal to Solanum confirmed: 'Crops emerging at the time of the frost have been set back by 10 days, however crops planted after the frost are progressing well.

'Early indications show that the damage involves about 10 per cent of the entire crop and we hope to see an excellent yield both in quality and volume this year.' Jersey grows a unique variety discovered on the island over 100 years ago. John Pearson, managing director at Solanum added: 'Many years ago the island experimented with other varieties but wisely returned to the Royal, as it had achieved a premium value on the market and was a proven favourite with consumers.' The EU has awarded Jersey Royal one of its few Certificates of Origin.

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