Sainsbury is exclusively stocking a New Zealand sub-tropical sweet potato called the kumara.
The kumara, which is one of New Zealand’s most popular vegetables, is appearing for the first time in the UK in commercial quantities.
Supplier Barfoots of Botley, which grows squash in the UK, convinced Sainsbury to give the kumara a trial run in selected stores in 2003, said account manager Jon Barfoot. The multiple was impressed enough to roll out the red-skinned sweet potato on a wider basis.
Gold and orange varieties of the vegetable are also grown. It can be stored for long periods and its growing season lasts more than 10 months.
Barfoots is advertising the kumara in papers read by New Zealanders living in the UK.