In this section

Our seed

With a successful track record of delivering new potato varieties meeting the needs of consumers, retailers, growers and the environment, we continue to invest in the latest ‘blue sky’ research, developing beneficial technologies for our growers, customers and consumers.

James Hutton Institute

We are proud of our 20 year potato breeding partnership with the world renowned James Hutton Institute.

Together with our growers and customers we are now beginning to reap the rewards of this long term investment with successful varieties such as Lady Balfour, Vales Sovereign, Jester and the first commercial “Phureja” potato Mayan Gold, which made national news in October 2006.

The broad base of plant science research carried out at the James Hutton Institute in areas such as genomics, enables their plant breeders to put science behind the art of plant breeding. This has resulted in multiple disease resistance being incorporated into single varieties through conventional breeding techniques.

Our expertise

Our expertise has been in the selection of those that have outstanding additional attributes for the market place such as flavour, processing ability, appearance, organic yields or low carbon footprints.

With our commitment to delivering improved varieties for our customers and growers, we have been able to test large numbers of disease resistant varieties under commercial growing conditions. We react quickly to the marketplace, targeting specific breeding for a particular goal.

The future

We continue to look to the future and invest in potato breeding.

We look to produce varieties to meet the changing consumer attitudes to health, indulgence, organics and convenience while also facing the challenges of climate change with less pesticide, inorganic fertiliser and water inputs.