BIGGER QUANTITIES OF POTATO NAMED AFTER CLOWN FISH BEING GROWN TO MEET CONSUMER DEMAND
A HYBRID potato named after cartoon fish Nemo is in high demand, according to retailer Tesco.
The potato, which is grown in Lincolnshire and Suffolk, was named after the fish because of its unusual markings. It proved popular when it went on sale in limited trials during previous Christmas periods at the store, leading to a call for greater quantities to be provided.
As a result supplier Branston has upped the quantity it is growing.
Sales and Marketing Director, Lucia Washbrook, said: “Demand for roasting potatoes rockets by around 500% in the run-up to Christmas compared to a standard shopping week. Nemo is a fantastic roaster, which has scored higher than traditional roasting favourites Maris Piper and King Edward in taste tests. It also performs brilliantly mashed or baked. We’ve doubled the quantity grown this year so that we will have plenty available throughout the season.”
Tesco potato buyer Lucy Moss said the potato’s energy-saving credentials have helped to boost its popularity. The Nemo variety can cut cooking time by 25%, saving energy in the home.
Lucy said: “The Nemo is now well on its way to becoming a modern British classic potato and is already being talked about by those who have tried it as the ultimate roasting spud. The potato is considered a game-changer not only because it can slash cooking time compared with the average roasting spud, but also because of its wonderful creamy taste, rich fluffy texture, crisp outer skin and distinct golden colour.”
Branston has planted enough of the Nemo variety to last for seven months based on previous sales data and the supermarket hopes this will make it easier for shoppers to ‘Find Nemo’ in stores.
Nemo potatoes have distinctive pink skin with creamy yellow patches around their large eye-like markings, giving them a bi-coloured appearance and leading to them being named after the cartoon clownfish.
The environmental credentials of Nemo are strong too – it requires relatively small amounts of fertilisers and much of this nutrition can be organically-derived, according to Branston’s Director of Agronomy Mark Willcox.
Branston plans to further increase availability of Nemo over the next few years as seed volumes expand and believes it could join the King Edward and Maris Piper as a classic roasting potato.
Mark said: “Establishing a new potato takes many years as we need to understand how and where it grows best while testing it in the market. At the same time, potato seed multiplication takes four to five years to build up to full commercial volumes, so this gives us time to fully understand its strengths and weaknesses.
“We are very pleased with how well Nemo has performed in Tesco’s Finest range over the over recent Christmas periods. Based on this success, this year we planted enough to maintain it in store for up to seven months, based on previous sale rates.
“We carefully select the best growers on the best land to grow this premium potato.”
He added: “It has strong disease resistance and uses water efficiently, especially where applied by drip irrigation. Many of the Nemo fields have benefited local biodiversity through the planting of flower-rich grass field margins.”
Nemo is a phureja hybrid variety, which combines the vigorous fast-growing nature of original Peruvian potatoes with the hardiness of modern European varieties from the Solanum tuberosum Solanaceae family.
It has the golden yellow flesh typical of an Andean phureja. Its uniform cell structure enables it to cook much more quickly.
The Tesco Finest Nemo potatoes cost £2.30 for a 2kg bag and will be available in more than 400 stores.
Source/photo: Branston/Tesco/Gerd Altman
