In a welcome piece of news from the business community, William Church, the sales and marketing director of The Jersey Royal Company, said that as millions of people across Britain were forced to adapt to lifestyle changes, the Island’s prestige potato could feature on more dining tables.
‘People are now having to cook and eat at home,’ he said.
‘They will be looking for quality produce. Potatoes are a very good source of carbohydrate and a welcome alternative to the staples of rice and pasta. I am very optimistic. Retailers tell us that they need our product. We are part of the food supply chain, albeit with a premium offering. Over the next week we will be selling into more UK outlets and I think that we have a great opportunity here.
‘Traditionally, the price in the wholesale market starts high and then goes down, but it has remained firmer and stronger than in other years. It is still early days for exports, but they are increasing significantly each week.
‘We just have to hope that Condor continues to run boats every day so that we can satisfy our clients. There has been some suggestion that they may reduce from six sailings a week to five.’
The Jersey Royal Company has 8,300 vergées under potatoes, spread over 1,800 fields. Mr Church said that they experienced a difficult start to the year, when land preparation and planting takes place, because of adverse weather.
‘It was really challenging, with heavy rain and high north-easterly winds. But we have worked through that,’ he explained.
The disrupted planting programme, particularly in February, means that the height of the harvesting season, which is usually in May, will be slightly delayed and is now likely to occur in late May and early June. Mr Church added that some of the early fields dug by the company had produced a light crop. However, a recent period of rain, which brought the dry spell to a temporary end, has helped and quantities are starting to improve.
‘As the crop improves, we start to engage more with our customers,’ Mr Church said. ‘There is little point in undertaking promotions when the product isn’t there.
‘And it should be remembered that in advertising the Jersey Royal we are also promoting the Island. There has been a lot of good publicity recently, with top television chefs such as Phil Vickery and James Martin featuring the culinary delights of the Island on their programmes. The Jersey Royal is still hitting the headlines in a positive way.
‘There are now only three genuinely British seasonal products on the market: Jersey Royals, asparagus and strawberries. Nobody really cares too much about where carrots, cauliflowers and cabbages come from.’
On the labour front, Mr Church said that the company was currently about 10% down on its normal staffing levels.
‘We did offer employment to people in the hospitality sector who are not able to work at the moment, but they didn’t want the jobs,’ he added. ‘But there is no point grumbling and we are working with the staff that we have.’
Complying with social-distancing regulations means that a higher level of management is required and team members have been elected to help police themselves. A potato harvester would normally be crewed by five or six people, but now carries just three or four staff working at a safe distance from each other. Other factors also have to be taken into consideration in these unusual times.
‘We have a number of accommodation blocks available, so we are able to keep staff segregated,’ Mr Church said. ‘In the packing sheds we have erected Perspex screens and we supply personal protection equipment and sanitisers. Our vans and toilet facilities are also sanitised each night.
‘For the time being, this is something that we simply just have to do.’
