Nene Potatoes’ new facility has been officially opened by National Farmers Union president Peter Kendall.
Members of the potato marketing co-operative based in Long Sutton funded the quality assurance building to help offer their customers reliable supply and assured quality.
Nene Potatoes chairman David Hoyles said: “It is crucial that Nene confidently delivers the expected quality potatoes to our customers right first time and gives our grower members timely, accurate information to maximise their crop returns. This new facility helps us to achieve that.”
Mr Hoyles said he, as well as the board and executive of the business, were delighted that Peter Kendall opened the new facility.
The QA facility is sited next to the Nene Potatoes office and allows the professional marketing team to see potatoes quickly first-hand.
It is equipped to allow the washing, grading, hot boxing, dry matter scoring, quality control analysis and recording of potato samples all year round, especially during the harvest and storage period.
Recorded data and photographs are uploaded daily to the marketing office to allow a detailed log of samples to be catalogued.
Peter Kendall said: “The consumer is wanting more and more to buy British produce. It is up to us to make the investments necessary to provide them with consistent quality and continuity. This facility is a great example of that.”