Yes My Lady! Meijer’s FAB Quest for the Perfect Chipping Potato By Austen Dack and Terry Jones
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ecently I visited Meijer’s HQ in Holland, I wanted to see for myself the chain of events that need to happen in order for a new variety to make it via the grower, into a fish & chip shop and onto the consumer’s plate. I visited their offices, labs and finally box stores to see first-hand how they continue to develop first class ware capable of beating disease, climate, & law changes, whilst still passing the all-important fry & taste test. Chip shop owners all have their own specification when sourcing the perfect chipping spud. A clean sample, good shape, low waste, maximum shelf life. The best flesh and fry colour, and of course a great taste! There are many variables to consider – and it’s no different for the grower! They face their own challenges, based on what a customer needs – along with a changing climate, varying soil types, and any pests or diseases to protect the crop
Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • November 2021
against. At that point, they will approach specialist potato breeders like Meijer Potato and select varieties with the best chance of success. With constant change in agriculture and business, Meijer are always looking to innovate, the breeding and product development teams are a huge part of this process. Ongoing investment provides the latest technology to focus on delivering results for everyone from the grower to the end consumer. Variety breeding is a 7–9-year process, from a single plant to large commercial field production. It starts with a flower on a potato plant being pollinated from another flower, this produces berries. The tiny seeds within them are planted, and each plant is now a unique potato variety that is given a numbered identity. The clever part starts here - a cutting is taken from that single plant, and the DNA analysed. A number of DNA ‘markers’ are searched for, which helps identify the variety characteristics – will it have resistance to certain diseases/ pests etc? In recent years this process
Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • November 2021
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