Europeans Hail Innovative British Potato Storage System

A British potato and onion storage system has been hailed as ‘the greatest breakthrough in the seed potato sector’ by judges at the PotatoEurope Conference 2009 in the Netherlands. Restrain, the natural anti-sprouting system, won the prestigious PotatoEurope Innovation Award for 2009 in the face of stiff oppostion. The award was announced during the conference, at Emmeloord, on 8 September 2009. Mr Dirk Garos, Restrain Company’s Dutch representative, received the award from Mrs Renée Bergkamp, director-general for enterprise and innovation at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

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Vales Sovereign Gets Picked Again

 Greenvale AP’s Vales Sovereign potato is proving a real winner. Tesco has chosen Vales Sovereign to be the top potato for making potato wedges in its new ‘Ideal For’ range. The ‘Ideal For’ range selects the best varieties to bring about perfect cooking results every time.

Tesco developed the ‘Ideal For’ range after research showed that many customers didn’t know which potato variety to buy for which type of cooking process. Tesco selected Vales Sovereign with its classic large oval shape and attractive red blushes to the skin, creamy taste and soft and velvety texture as the variety that is perfect for cutting into wedges and baking in the oven.

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Cutting-edge technology in new £1million system will improve quality, minimise cross contamination, lengthen shelf life and save enough water to fill 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year

 Greenvale AP, the UK’s largest supplier of fresh potatoes, is developing a radical potato cleaning system on its Tern Hill, Shropshire site. The system is code-named Project Cascade and Greenvale aims to have it fully operational by the end of the year. The company says that the very significant quality control benefits it delivers could change the way potatoes and all root vegetables are cleaned – while its water saving potential will have a positive impact on both costs and the environment.

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UK’s major potato supplier sets targets and standards in carbon reduction and environmental responsibility

With a name like ‘Greenvale’ a company could hardly avoid addressing the subject of environmental responsibility head-on. The ‘greening’ of agriculture is an essential target, and the company, the leading supplier of British fresh potatoes, is trying to ensure it plays a leading and responsible role in sustainability in food production.

Recently Paul Tyson, Environmental Manager of Greenvale AP, attended a food industry workshop at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on the Government’s forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). Tyson is tasked with delivering Greenvale’s feedback about the proposed legislation, helping in advance to make it work more effectively, instead of simply accepting it when it arrives.

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UK’s leading potato supplier moves into sweet potatoes as partnership with Tesco expands

 Greenvale AP has won the contract to supply Tesco with sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes are to be sourced in the USA and shipped to Greenvale’s Flood’s Ferry site in Cambridgeshire, where they will be subjected to quality controls before packing.

Sweet potatoes are an entirely new area for Greenvale. "We’ve worked for over 30 years with Tesco, supplying a variety of British-grown potatoes," says Paul Coleman, technical director at Greenvale. "This contract is an opportunity to diversify our operation without compromising our commitment to British growers. It’s also both a reflection of the great business relationship we have with Tesco and a testament to the Flood’s Ferry team’s expertise in every aspect of handling and supplying fresh produce."

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Fresh Potato Specialist Tackles Tack-Tarnished Biking Etape

Charlotte Manwaring of Greenvale AP raises over £200 for Macmillan Cancer Support in sabotaged bike race – despite being a victim of the vandals

It’s one thing to raise money for charity by going on a 130km bike ride. It’s another to do it over a course that climbs nearly 2,000 metres, even if it does travel through some of Scotland’s most beautiful countryside. But when you throw in sabotage, with angry locals placing tacks on the road to burst unwary bikers’ tyres, then you’re really stepping up a gear.

That’s exactly what happened to Charlotte Manwaring who works for Greenvale AP, the UK’s leading supplier of fresh potatoes, as key account manager at the company’s Market Drayton, Shropshire site. She took part in the Etape Caledonia, an endurance cycle challenge on the steep gradients of the Perthshire Highlands.

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Due to tough trading conditions within the potato processing sector, the Board of Directors of Greenvale AP Ltd has conducted a review of group processing.

This review has regretfully concluded that it is not sustainable to continue operating at current levels at the Greenvale Foods Wisbech factory, and with no foreseeable improvement in market conditions it has been decided to close this facility.

Production will continue at Wisbech until the14th June when the current order book and some of equipment will be transferred to the Swancote factory at Telford.

Potential redundancy will affect seventeen (17) employees although there are opportunities being offered elsewhere in the group which should reduce this number. The Greenvale group has created in excess of thirty (30) new positions of employment within the last six months.

Vales Sovereign is a new potato variety developed by Greenvale AP, the UK’s largest supplier of fresh potatoes. As well as delivering a traditional British potato flavour the new variety scores heavily in terms of the environment: it has a lower carbon footprint than traditional potato varieties because it requires less water and less fertiliser to grow.   

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Sainsbury’s new potatoes: 15 minutes from ground to supermarket shelf!

Retailer launches Local First For Fresh campaign with Greenvale AP

There’s nothing like the taste of the first new potatoes of the year, fresh from the ground. Now Sainsbury’s has joined forces with Greenvale AP, the UK’s largest supplier of fresh potatoes, in an initiative that gives customers the chance to buy the first and the very freshest local new potatoes. The ‘Local First For Fresh’ potatoes are all grown within a few miles of participating stores and are freshly harvested and delivered to the store by the growers, on the same day.

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Leading UK potato producer staff in mountain race for Action Medical Research

A Shropshire-based team from the UK national potato producer Greenvale AP is entering one of the UK’s most physically demanding outdoor races, the Three Peaks Challenge, in support of leading national medical charity Action Medical Research.

The ‘Greenvale Monarchs’ are five staff from the company’s Tern Hill potato plant near Market Drayton. They will set out on July 11th, in a race to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in the fastest possible time, one after the other. In the past, teams have achieved this feat in barely 17 hours, including time to travel by road between each mountain, with all rest, sleep and meal breaks being fitted in during travel time.

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