End the consumer confusion

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.

Before harvest, the tops were evaluated for disease and vigour then three-metre digs were made for the tubers which were assessed for yield, size, skin finish and flesh and skin colour. Processing and cooking tests were carried out while family and friends were given the chance to sample the crisps and fries produced. In the crisping varieties Levinata is the standout amongst trial lines under evaluation. It has good leaf and produced the best trial yield of 63 tonnes per hectare in Matamata. “It also cooks well out of long-term storage, so there’s a lot of hope around it.”

In the crisping varieties Levinata is the standout

It appears to be a better performer than VR808 which came to New Zealand in 2008–9, showed phenomenally good storage of seven to eight months, but yields were disappointing in the North Island. Sorrentina and Madison have excellent dry matter content, but yields were “a bit limited.” Lamoka “needs to be wrapped in cottonwool” but yields well with good soil and irrigation. With fries, Tony says the industry is in a holding pattern due to the decrease in overseas tourists. Crop 111 was late bulking; total yield was okay but there were a lot of smalls. Eurogrow has entered a pre-commercialisation evaluation of this variety with Plant & Food Research. Leonata is the most promising fry variety, with the highest yields in Waikato trials and good storage. Basin Russet produced a large sized, cream to light yellow potato but the set was lower than ideal. “On harder ground it sizes up to something we can use.” It cooked okay and had 200-day storage. While Jurata sized up well early on it then “went to sleep.” Donata is extremely popular in Germany with high yields, but is susceptible to powdery scab.

There were 30 new potato varieties on show at the Potato Seed Exhibition, which Eurogrow says collectively cost a total of $250,000 to get to that point

In the fresh category Agria popularity is a double-edged sword as some people think all yellow-fleshed potatoes are Agria, and supermarkets want it all year round. In the new varieties Jelly is deep rooting, needs low inputs and had up to 60% better yields than Agria in the Waikato. Everest’s yields compare with Nadine – “but it beats it hands down on taste.” There are many promising new lines with yellow flesh, excellent taste and differing end use suitability, but packing and promoting these to give consumers a positive experience is key. In the specialty area the value proposition is increasingly attractive with smaller volumes sold but at a premium price.

BEFORE HARVEST, THE TOPS WERE EVALUATED FOR DISEASE AND VIGOUR THEN THREE-METRE DIGS WERE MADE FOR THE TUBERS WHICH WERE ASSESSED FOR YIELD, SIZE, SKIN FINISH AND FLESH AND SKIN COLOUR

So there is a lot of interest in baby potatoes and novel lines such as those with red or purple flesh. Isabella is genuinely nice tasting and has taken over the market in Germany. Cerisa and Bellanita are longer ‘fingerling’ potatoes also with excellent taste, while Lily Rose has novelty appeal with its red flesh.

There is a lot of interest in baby potatoes and novel lines such as those with red or purple flesh

There were 30 new potato varieties on show at the Potato Seed Exhibition, which Eurogrow says collectively cost a total of $250,000 to get to that point. Asked about whether nitrogen inputs and outputs were evaluated he says there are strong signals that some of the deeper rooting varieties are more environmentally sustainable, although suitability for end use also needs to be considered. Potatoes NZ in partnership with Vegetable Research & Innovation (VR&I), Horticulture New Zealand and with funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries, are in the first year of the Sustainable Vegetable Systems Project (SVS) which addresses the true nitrate leaching of potatoes and other vegetables whilst improving the modelling tools available to industry. This in combination with applied mitigation techniques will contribute to improved environmental outcomes. SVS Project Manager Andrew Barber says “there is the possibility in the near future, of a concurrent PNZ project to look at nitrate mitigations, including the potentially important varietal attributes of potatoes”.

REPRESENTING THE WORLD’S BEST POTATOES HERE IN NZ!

NORTH ISLAND Suresh Wallabh

M +64 21 153 3089 E suresh@eurogrow.co.nz

Tony Hendrikse

M +64 29 96 88 237 E tony@eurogrow.co.nz

SOUTH ISLAND Elliott Lovegrove

M +64 27 380 3080 E elliott@eurogrow.co.nz