THE future of the 70-year-old potato brand, Maris Piper, is becoming more and more uncertain than it was 20 years ago, as new varieties with better pest resistance are coming to the fore.
Back at the start of 2024, Albert Bartlett announced that it was actively exploring alternatives to the variety, stating that it was aiming to develop more resilient alternatives to the popular potato, and Greenvale launched a campaign in 2025 specifically designed to promote more sustainable and high-performing alternative potato varieties.
Branston is also introducing new, more resilient, or high-performing hybrids like Nemo (which is designed to outperform traditional roasting varieties like Maris Piper), although has stated that this is a diversification of their range rather than a total abandonment of the classic Maris Piper. The variety is being used in its newer “Nanna Tate” flavoured chips range launched in early 2025.
Maris Piper came to the fore in 1966. At that point, the Majestic variety accounted for 60% of the market, but its vulnerabilities to pests and disease, along with the rise of newer varieties, led to its demise and a higher take-up of Maris Piper which had proven PCN resistance and provided consistent yields.
But Maris Piper now only accounts for 10% of the UK’s potato-growing area, compared to 25% at the start of the millenium.
Greenvale’s Head of Marketing, Katy Pook, says while the variety was originally bred to be resistant to the most common type of Potato Cyst Nematode, the industry has changed exponentially since then.
“The potato sector was dominated by tens of thousands of smaller multi-crop growers mainly supplying local markets and early versions of supermarkets, but that was a far cry from the national distribution networks we have today,” she said.
The variety’s future was recently debated at the 2025 British Potato Industry Event, where Katy joined other panellists discussing the topic.
“The sector is more industrialised, there are bigger and more complicated machines, greater pressure from pests and diseases with fewer chemical control options and more volatile weather against a background of greater assurance demands,” she said.
Greenvale states that consumers have complained about the variety’s quality, claiming that it makes up for 40% of all complaints it receives between March and July, and while there’s an element of consumer loyalty to the brand, it’s believed shoppers would just buy other varieties if it weren’t available.
“Retailers are already speaking to us about using alternative varieties and focusing on using Maris Piper, when it is at its best,” Katy said.
Procurement Director, Paddy Graham-Jones, echoed this sentiment when Albert Bartlett first stated it was looking for alternatives.
“Our agronomy team is working with our retail customers to try and develop alternative varieties that still offer customers great taste, but are easier to grow, require less fertiliser and water, and cope better with the climatic extremes that occur on a more regular basis than they did 20 years ago,” he stated at the time.
But there are still some firm advocates for the variety, not least of which is Scottish-based potato marketing and procurement company Taygrow Ltd.
During the BP debate, its Director Gordon Stark pointed out that Maris Piper has persevered over the years while other varieties have come and gone.
“It has navigated its way through the chipping market, the packing market and was even grown as a salad at one time,” he said, pointing out that its PCN resistance was a strong reason for keeping it, especially following recent increases in the Globodera rostochiensis PCN strain.
He stressed that 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes of Maris Piper crops are still grown every year because it is relatively inexpensive to grow and there is always a market for it, and that its popularity in Scotland is growing, even though it is becoming less popular in England.
