Low-carbon potatoes will launch into UK stores this week thanks to a partnership between Tesco and Branston.
The potatoes have been grown at a concept farm in Lincolnshire that was established last year in a bid to help farmers and suppliers reach net zero targets.
The farm has successfully grown 500 tonnes of Georgina variety potatoes, which will be sold in Tesco from 23 February in Tesco Finest British All-Rounder and Baking Potato packs.
The potatoes have been grown using a combination of low-carbon growing techniques such as circular economy fertilisers, minimum cultivations without impacting yield or quality, and the transition of the machinery’s fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel, which has an up to 90% lower carbon footprint versus conventional fossil diesel.
The result was the same taste and texture customers expected from traditionally farmed potatoes, but at more than 50% lower carbon emissions, Branston said.
“It’s a huge milestone to have achieved a lower average carbon footprint in the production of this crop of Georgina potatoes, compared to conventional production averages,” said Andy Blair, Branston’s field technical manager. “The findings from this process will support the wider industry in edging forward towards national sustainability targets, which is exactly the outcome we’d hoped for.”
He added: “The ambition of the low carbon concept farm is not only to see how close we can get to a net zero potato, but to understand the interactions between crops as you move from one to the next.”
Branston had several crops in rotation and would be looking at the carbon impact, soil health and biological impact of the process, he said.
The team is also looking at next steps for future crops of Georgina and other varieties, including a focus on cover crops to help with soil structure and retaining nutrition, investing in R-Leaf fertiliser and trialling a biomethane tractor.
“The low-carbon concept farm will act as a test bed to roll out the practices more widely with the plan that all aspects are transferable to other farms and growers across the country,” Blair added. “We’ve made huge progress but to get to net zero we’re eager to work with others to see what technology and innovations can be used to take us even further.”
Tesco head of sustainable agriculture and fisheries Natalie Smith said that the potatoes “taste just as good as the potatoes grown using traditional methods”.
“One of the aims of the farm is to test and learn from a variety of low-carbon approaches, which in turn can de-risk the process for other farms in our supply chain and further afield,” said Smith. “Increasing funding for innovation in UK agriculture is one of the key recommendations in our Greenprint for UK farming report, and it’s vital farmers have the ability to invest in new technology and approaches, if we’re to tackle the challenges caused by climate change and nature loss.”
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