Exotic sweet potatoes have the fastest growing sales of any vegetable on-shelf in the UK, according to independent retail analysts TNS.
Trials are now taking place to see if the product can be grown commercially in Britain for the first time.
Demand for sweet potatoes in the UK has risen 67 per cent in the last year, increasing the market to £24 million a year, say TNS. This has been put down to celebrity chefs such as Anthony Worral Thomson, Brian Turner and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall increasingly using sweet potatoes in their recipes.
Tarik Abdel-Hady, produce buyer for Tesco, said: “Until recently sweet potatoes were generally the preserve of foodies and mainly sold well in areas that had a large Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations.
“Now the sweet potato has become the trendiest vegetable in Britain and is well on its way to becoming mainstream, joining the likes of other root vegetables like parsnips, turnip, and swedes as a regular item on our dinner plates.”
Sweet potatoes are commercially grown in the US, South America, Asia, New Zealand, Israel and Spain. “We’re still very optimistic that the sweet potato can be commercially grown in Britain but it’s too soon to tell,” added Mr Abdel-Hady. “A crop is currently growing in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire and we’ll know more when they are harvested later in the year.”
