Ahead of the festive season, leading potato supplier Branston has launched its innovative hybrid Nemo spud to support demand for volume and faster cooking times at this time of year.
Grown and developed over the past nine years, the roasting variety cuts cooking time by 25% compared to a standard white potato thanks to the careful crossing of a fast-cooking Peruvian variety called Inca Bella and a red-skinned salad potato variety called Franceline. It gets its Nemo name from the distinctive skin markings that mirror the famous cartoon fish.
Lucia Washbrook, sales & marketing drector, at Branston, said: “Demand for roasting potatoes rockets by around 500% in the run-up to Christmas compared to a standard shopping week. Nemo is a fantastic roaster, which has scored higher than traditional roasting favourites Maris Piper and King Edward in taste tests. It also performs brilliantly mashed or baked. We’ve doubled the quantity grown this year so that we will have plenty available throughout the season.
“Customers’ needs lead development at Branston, but sustainability is always at the forefront of our innovations and Nemo is no different. Growing Nemo requires less fertiliser and less water than comparable varieties, which aligns with our wider business goals to make the potato growing process as environmentally friendly as possible.”
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.
