radition has it that the Jersey Royal strikes a reassuringly regal tone at the grand opening of the British potato season, creating an air of excitement in the fresh produce aisles as summer approaches.
However, with last year’s royal wedding having apparently already boosted demand for the trademarked, PDO-certified spud, and its popularity further soaring leading up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the product’s importance to the potato category as a whole is arguably better served by a metaphor or two linked to the UK’s other major celebration in 2012, the London Olympics.
Like the archers lining up to shoot their way to victory on the first official day of this year’s games, the king of the potato crop is expected to hit the target consistently when it comes to satisfying consumer demand. For many shoppers in the UK, it seems, Jersey Royals are the only kind of potato they will buy, making retailers all the more keen to ensure product taste and quality are not wide of the mark. As Andy Blackett, senior vegetable buyer at Tesco, tells FPJ, stocking the variety adds another valuable string to the grocer’s bow.
“We know that customers are waiting for that Jersey season to come, but once it has gone away, around mid-June, they will go off and look for more seasonal produce - be that asparagus or sweetcorn,” he says. “That’s why it’s fundamentally important to us, because if we get it wrong, those people that wouldn’t normally come into the potato category at that time of year won’t come in. They’re normally customers who spend a little more and who recognise Jersey Royals as a premium product. So it’s important we get it right.”
However, despite the Jersey Royal’s undoubted gold-medal status, Tesco does not brand it as such in store. While competitor Sainsbury’s sells the product as one of its Taste the Difference lines, it is notably not part of the Tesco Finest range. “We think it stands out on its own as Jersey Royal,” explains Blackett, who is directly responsible for buying almost a third of the island’s annual potato crop. “Customers recognise and have confidence in the name, and that’s what is important to us.”
When it comes to making a splash with customers that do buy other kinds of potato, Jersey’s entry into the market has to have the timing and co-ordination of a high-diver, so the rest of the British season can also score well. By providing a platform for increased sales later in the year, daily arrivals of Jersey Royals into stores are an essential part of encouraging people to plunge into the category.
“Jersey should be our springboard into the UK season,” says Blackett. “Our strategy is to get Jersey potatoes into as many stores as soon as we can, have a comprehensive promotional campaign and then, once the season has come to an end, move into the UK mainland season. It’s 10 weeks of our biggest promotions of the year.”
After Jersey has run the first leg of the relay, the baton passes to the UK. In mid-June and early July, Tesco will move into the UK season, with a strong focus on Cornwall, Kent, Suffolk, Yorkshire and Scotland. According to Tim Pratt, Tesco’s technical manager for potatoes and brassicas, a commitment to improving the speed with which that first leg is run has seen the retailer work closely with the Jersey Royal Company, which supplies the vast majority of potatoes exported from the island, on establishing a reliable, next-day delivery schedule.
“Five or six years ago, there were hardly any potatoes washed and packed on the island,” he recalls. “Tesco has really driven the agenda in getting product freshly harvested in the morning; cooled, washed and packed that day; on the boat that evening; and then into our depots and stores the next day. That’s pretty much the quickest you can do it and, unlike some retailers, more or less all of our Jersey Royals will be washed and packed on the island this year.”
This season, Tesco and the Jersey Royal Company have teamed up with Yorkshire-based packaging firm Evap to trial a new kind of film that is believed to double the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. According to the retailer, the new packaging apparently achieves that personal best by slowing down the rate at which fresh produce ripens and breaks down, meaning ‘best before’ periods are twice as long as those previously advised.
Crucially, Tesco says it hopes the innovative packs might save shoppers “millions of pounds a year” by significantly reducing the amount of food thrown away.
Should the trials, which have been carried out on the Pearl variety of Jersey Royal, prove successful, Tesco says it will consider using the packaging on more of its produce. It also argues that such a move might save the fresh produce business itself “tens of millions of pounds a year” in wastage costs by extending the amount of time products stay on the shelves.
“This incredible new packaging is a massive breakthrough in the fight against food waste,” Blackett suggests. “Our customers want to buy fresh food but often worry they won’t have a chance to eat it while it’s still fresh. And no one likes the guilt that comes with throwing food out. This packaging will mean Tesco customers can keep their Jersey Royals in the cupboard for longer, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be fresh for twice as long.”
Wrap, the UK government-funded organisation that helps businesses and individuals reduce waste, has welcomed the trial. “Potatoes are the most widely wasted vegetable in UK homes, with an average of five million potatoes going to waste every single day - costing consumers over £200m a year,” comments Richard Swannell, Wrap’s director of design and waste prevention. “Packaging innovation plays an important role in helping reduce food waste and Wrap welcomes this packaging initiative.
“By increasing their shelf-life, consumers will have more time to eat the potatoes they buy, which in turn will help reduce the amount we throw away, and save us money.” -
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