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.
And thanks to an exacting growing regime, Greenvale’s new potatoes should be the first local crop in the shops.
The campaign will see total food miles for the new potatoes being cut dramatically – in some case to less then 10 miles. Astonishingly, the length of time from digging up the potatoes to presentation on shelf can be as little as 15 minutes.
Between early May and July (the date depends on the time of the local harvest) a total of 35 Sainsbury’s stores will participate in the 2009 Local First for Fresh campaign. This follows the increasing popularity of previous years’ promotions – in the first year, 2003, just three stores took part. "The popularity with store managers is understandable," says Charlotte Manwaring, key account manager at Greenvale. "Average sales uplift is around 80% and one store saw sales increase by 300% during the promotion.
"Those figures underline the demand for locally grown, fresh produce. As consumers become more aware of food miles and carbon footprints it is up to suppliers like us to listen and respond," she adds.
As well as giving customers the opportunity to taste truly fresh new potatoes, the First For Fresh campaign underlines Sainsbury’s commitment to local farmers whilst supporting the retailer’s objective to provide the healthiest options. The potatoes are fully compliant with Sainsbury’s strict standards and all the growers are Assured Produce certified.
Growing the First for Fresh potato
"As one of the UK’s largest potato suppliers we have the infrastructure in place to be able to implement this kind of scheme," says Charlotte Manwaring. In order to achieve the ‘first for fresh’ objective, Greenvale AP worked closely with its growers from seed planting through to harvesting. The growing process was specifically developed to produce the first fresh new potatoes in each particular area (variations in local growing conditions mean the campaign is staggered across the country to match harvest times). This includes a specific fertiliser and irrigation regime, as well as the use of fleeced covers to protect new growth from frost. The yield of the crop is also restricted in order to deliver a “sweeter”, smoother-textured potato.
Michael Bult’s family has been farming land in West Newton in Somerset, for three generations. "We put a high priority on environmental issues so we were delighted to participate in this scheme," he says. "Local people can really enjoy these potatoes knowing they come from – literally – just down the road. We get involved with the actual delivery of the stock as well so the customer can be assured they will arrive in perfect condition."
Once the crop is ready for harvesting, Michael and his fellow Local First For Fresh growers lift the potatoes by hand in the morning, and deliver them direct to their local Sainsbury’s store within, at most, a few hours.
"This is a really exciting promotion for everyone involved," says Charlotte Manwaring. "On the one hand achieving the goal is stressful – for example, the timings are critical – but at the same time it’s hugely rewarding and so far the feedback from customers is 100% positive."
For more information visit the Greenvale AP website at www.greenvale.co.uk
Editor’s notes
Greenvale AP is the UK’s leading supplier of fresh potatoes and was awarded the Queens Award for Innovation in 2006. Greenvale AP now supplies the UK’s premier retailers, caterers and processing outlets with quality potatoes, meeting the high standards demanded by the UK market.
Greenvale AP has developed sites in the major potato growing areas across the UK, resulting in three state of the art potato-packing operations situated in Shropshire, Berwickshire and Cambridgeshire. The company also has sales and marketing offices across the UK, including in Norfolk, Suffolk, Somerset, Hereford and Yorkshire. Greenvale AP’s Seed Potato operation is managed from a specialist office at Burrelton, near Perth in Scotland.
Key account manager Charlotte Manwaring is based at Greenvale AP’s Tern Hill site in Shropshire. One of Charlotte’s key responsibilities is looking after the Sainsbury’s account.