TECHNICAL
END THE CONSUMER CONFUSION Words by Glenys Christian & Gemma Carroll
Tony Hendrikse, left, shows off some of Eurogrow’s new potato varieties to the vice-president of the Pukekohe Vegetable Growers’ Association (PVGA), Kirit Makan
The bland house-brand offering of potatoes in supermarkets means consumers are getting confused, says Eurogrow general manager, Tony Hendrikse, at the recent Eurogrow Potato Seed Exhibition, held in Canterbury and Pukekohe. There is less packaging highlighting the producer of the potatoes to which consumers had previously felt connected. Some point-of-sale material in supermarkets even appears to come from Australia, showing a redskinned, white-fleshed potato as best for roasting, which shoppers cannot buy as there are no such potatoes for sale in New Zealand. “It’s our job to turn that around,” he told Pukekohe growers attending the company’s North Island potato variety exhibition in late March. “It’s not the consumers’ fault. We have got to supply what they are looking for. And that is a product that’s suitable for them, does what it says it will and when they eat it, they say ‘yum’.” (The NZ Commerce Commission has recently undertaken a survey for food producers where these concerns can be raised. Growers are welcome to email their concerns whilst maintaining anonymity to marketstudies@comcom.govt.nz.)
The main challenge in the seed market is keeping the pipeline of new potato varieties in balance with demand. Usually, the company will grow up to two to three tonnes of seed for a new variety, then if a particular sector likes one of them, they will be given more to grow to prove its worth. But that can mean considerable wastage, as in some instances two-thirds of new material is thrown out, with a strike rate of one in seven or eight being usual. The domestic development programme for new varieties is under a lot of stress due to a lack of local potato breeders.
The main challenge in the seed market is keeping the pipeline of new potato varieties in balance with demand New varieties were quarantined in Scotland where there was a wait of two years, then they could be cleared in six months. That compared with an eight-year wait to get them into quarantine in this country. After tissue culture and early generation production, trials were carried out where they were planted on growers’ properties, often right alongside the best performing varieties for comparison. NZGROWER : MAY 2021
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