Finding rare Nemo gourmet potatoes will be far easier for shoppers 

They’ve become one of the UK’s most sought-after roasting potatoes, especially at Christmas, but now finding the rare Nemo spud will be a lot easier for eager shoppers. 

Grown in Lincolnshire and Suffolk for potato supplier, Branston, the ‘game-changing’ Nemo variety became an overnight hit not only because it can cut cooking time by a quarter but also for its gourmet quality premium taste.

Until now the potatoes have only been exclusively available on very limited trials at Tesco stores but this year, based on previous high demand, Branston are supplying enough to last for the next seven months.

And Branston – one of Britain’s biggest potato suppliers – are optimistic the Nemo could soon join classic roasting spuds, the King Edward and Maris Piper, as a world beater due to their greater availability.

Tesco potato buyer Lucy Moss said:

“The Nemo is now well on its way to becoming a modern British classic potato and is already being talked about by those who have tried it as the ultimate roasting spud.  

“The potato is considered a game-changer not only because it can slash cooking time compared with the average roasting spud but also because of its wonderful creamy taste, rich fluffy texture, crisp outer skin and distinct golden colour.”

Branston, whose largest packing site is based near Lincoln, have plans to further increase availability of Nemo over the next few years as seed volumes expand.

Mark Willcox, Director of Agronomy at Branston said:

“Establishing a new potato takes many years as we need to understand how and where it grows best while testing it in the market.  

“At the same time, potato seed multiplication takes four to five years to build up to full commercial volumes so this gives us time to fully understand its strengths and weaknesses. 

“We are very pleased with how well Nemo has performed in Tesco’ Finest range over the over recent Christmas periods’. Based on this success, this year we planted enough to maintain it in store for up to seven months, based on previous sale rates.

“We carefully select the best growers on the best land to grow this premium potato.  The environmental credentials of Nemo are strong too – it requires relatively small amounts of fertilisers and much of this nutrition can be organically-derived. 

“It has strong disease resistance and uses water efficiently, especially where applied by drip irrigation. Many of the Nemo fields have benefitted local biodiversity through the planting of flower rich grass field margins.”

The Tesco Finest Nemo Potatoes cost £2.30 for a 2kg bag and will be available in more than 400 stores.

ENDS  

Note to editors

Nemo is a phureja hybrid variety, which combines the vigorous fast-growing nature of original Peruvian potatoes with the hardiness of modern European varieties from the Solanum tuberosum Solanaceae family. 

It has the golden yellow flesh typical of an Andean phureja, with a more uniform cell structure which enables it to cook much more quickly.

Its distinctive pink skin has creamy yellow patches around its large eye-like markings, giving it a bi-coloured appearance.