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.
Now Greenvale has launched Vales Sovereign into the catering sector as box bakers, size-graded for baking, under the Jackpots brand. Jackpots are supplied in 15kg boxes and are available via wholesalers.
“Vales Sovereign is ideal for caterers looking for baking potatoes,” says Doug Bell, General Manager of Greenvale at Duns, Berwickshire, who heads the foodservice team. “The flavour is very traditional – in taste panel tests, most comments were along the lines that it ‘tasted like potatoes used to’. It’s also a great British baker because it is a very robust variety that resists diseases that can spoil the look of jacket potatoes.”
Vales Sovereign was bred to combine the ‘best of British’, with the creamy taste and soft, velvety texture that made classic British varieties like King Edward and Maris Piper the nation’s favourites. In 2008 it won Tesco Fresh Produce Variety of the Year – this award looks at all fresh produce, including fruit as well as vegetables, so the fact that a humble spud took the crown underlines just how good the variety is.
Buying Vales Sovereign supports British farmers. Being 100% UK-grown, the variety has the minimum of food miles and, since it is grown across the UK, it ‘ticks the boxes’ in terms of local procurement. Greenvale also offers full from-the-field traceability with the Jackpots.
For more information contact your local wholesaler or 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.
Vales Sovereign was bred by the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and developed by Greenvale AP. It launched into the retail market nationwide in 2008 and won ‘Variety of the Year’ in the Tesco Fresh Produce Category Awards, held on November 20th 2008 at Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.