Potatoes in the UK

Today’s infograph was initially inspired by a report titled ‘Agriculture in the United Kingdom – 2009 edition’ published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 25th of March 2010.

The graph is divided in three sections:

A. Nutrition
Very basic nutrition facts about potatoes are presented. The data come from Nutrition Data, a very comprehensive website where you can find a wealth of information about various types of foods. [ http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2548/2 ]

Please note that the information presented is for raw, white potatoes including their flesh and skin. If you peel them and of course if you cook them the nutrition figures will vary. Also the facts vary for different varieties of potatoes.

Please also note that the numbers (percentages/gr) of the nutrients and water do not add up (to a total of 100gr); this is perhaps due to some number rounding.

What seems interesting here is that more than 80gr per 100 of the potatoes that we buy is water! And with every 100gr of potatoes we get 1/3 of the vitamin C we need in a day (according to US Recommended Daily Allowance).

B. Production (in the UK)
The data for this section come from the  ’Agriculture in the United Kingdom – 2009 edition’ report that I have already mentioned. On the top there is bar chart showing a steady growth of the farm land used for potatoes.

The report (p.47) states that the ‘average price paid to registered producers (£ per tonne)’ for all potatoes is 126 (GBP per tonne) which means 12.6p per Kg. It is quite interesting to compare this price with the prices we buy from the grocers (see third (C) section).

Finally, the volume of the potatoes harvested in 2009 in the UK was 6.4 million tonnes. This is more than 100Kg of potatoes per UK resident per year (assuming that all the UK production will be consumed as food by UK residents; in other words no potato exports or imports).

C. Price of potatoes (per Kg)
A random survey of five ‘high street’ grocers (all in Brixton area, London) shows a significant variation on prices depending on the grocer and the variety of the potatoes in question.

The majority of the potatoes sold is produced in the UK.

Egypt (baby new potatoes – Nicola, organic white potatoes/organic baking potatoes – Lady Balfour, organic new/baby potatoes – Vales Emerald, Charlotte), Israel (baby new potatoes – Nicola/Maris Peer, new potatoes – Maris Peer, organic new potatoes – Maris Peer, organic potatoes – Sante), France (Charlotte) and USA (various types of sweet potato) are the most common countries the surveyed grocers import from.

UK wise, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Sussex, Essex, Hertfordshire, Perthshire,  Fife, Aberdeen and Angus are some of the locations commonly mentioned.

It is quite interesting that in some cases the name of the farmer who grows the potatoes is presented on the packaging. It is perhaps an attempt from the grocers’ side (most of the potatoes are packaged as the grocers’ own-brand products) to show that the product has been tendered by an eponymous human being rather than it is another ‘industrialised’ item.

Price wise, on the graph, set in green are the lowest prices for a particular variety. Sainsbury’s sell 1Kg of British white potatoes for 30p which is by far the lowest price you will find in high street grocers.

The informal survey took place today, 07 April 2010, between 10-11:30 am in Brixton area, London. The grocers visited were:
- Iceland
- Lidl
- Marks & Spencer
- Sainsbury’s (Local)
- TESCO (Superstore)

If it is useful (for comparison), on the same day (07 April 2010) the price of potatoes (Loose) at Gyzi flee market in Athens, Greece was between 0.75-0.80 EUROs and they were imported either from Egypt or from Cyprus. The small-size (baby) potatoes were priced at about 0.40 EUROs per Kg; quite different from the UK where baby potatoes tend to be more expensive than the regular-size ones.

A week  before that, (Wednesday, 31 March 2010), the price of potatoes at Futoska market, Novi Sad, Serbia, was the equivalent of 0.20-0.30 EUROs per Kg; it seems that in Serbia they can even beat Sainsbury’s!

TABLE of grocers surveyed and varieties of potatoes sold

Grocer	Product	Variety	Origin	Package	Total Price	Price per Kg	Display until
LIDL	OAKLANDS British white potatoes (Class I)	Almera	Lincolnshire, UK	2.5Kg	89p	35.6p
LIDL	OAKLANDS British baby potatoes (Class I)	Charlotte	Aberdeen, UK	1Kg	99p	99p
LIDL	OAKLANDS British  speciality potatoes (Class I)	King Edward	Lincolnshire, UK	2.5Kg	£1.69	67.6p
LIDL	Baking potatoes Loose (Class I)	Estima	Cambridgeshire, UK			50p
LIDL	Sweet potatoes (Class I)	Sweet potatoes	USA (www.scottfarms.com)			£1.15 (was £1.24)
LIDL	Rooster potatoes (Class I)	Rooster	Fife, Scotland (produced by David Russel)	2Kg	£1.42 (was £1.46)	71p
TESCO	White potatoes	Harmony	UK	2.5Kg	£1.24	49.6p	10 April
TESCO	Maris Piper	Maris Piper	Great Britain	2.5Kg	£1.85	74p	07 April
TESCO	Baking potatoes (Loose)	?	UK			£1.24	-
TESCO	Baby new potatoes	Nicola	Egypt	1Kg	£1 (was £1.40)	£1	03 April
TESCO	King Edward	King Edward	GB	2.5Kg	£1.87	74.8p	09 April
TESCO	King Edward	King Edward	GB	1.5Kg	£1.25 (or 2(x1.5Kg = 3Kg) for £1.5)	83.3p (or 50p)	10 April
TESCO	Exquisa Potatoes Finest	Exquisa	Israel	1Kg	£1 (was £2)	£1	10 April
TESCO	Organic White Potatoes	Lady Balfour	Egypt	2.1Kg	£1.50 (was £1.74)	71p	13 April
TESCO	Charlotte potatoes	Charlotte	Egypt	1Kg	£1.50	£1.50	10 April
TESCO	Baking potatoes (Jacket)	Harmony	GB	2.5Kg	£1.00 (was £1.90)	40p (was 76p)	10 April
TESCO	Sweet potatoes loose (Class I)	Sweet potatoes	USA			£1.24
TESCO	Desiree potatoes	Desiree	GB	2.5Kg	£1.95	97.5p	11 April
TESCO	Organic baking potatoes	Lady Balfour	Egypt	1.2Kg	£1.50	£1.25	10 April
TESCO	Organic baby new potatoes	Vales Emerald	Egypt	640gr	£1.00	£1.56	08 April
TESCO	Organic new potatoes	Vales Emerald	Egypt	1.3Kg	£1.5	£1.15	11 April
TESCO	Carolina Sun	Sweet potatoes	USA	package of 4	£2	50p (per potato)	22 April
ICELAND	White potatoes	Saxon	Perth, UK	2Kg	£1	50p	13 April
ICELAND	White potatoes	Estima	Hertford, UK	5Kg	£2	40p	13 April
ICELAND	Baby new potatoes	Maris Peer	Sussex, UK	1Kg	£1	£1	08 April
ICELAND	Baking potatoes	Saxon	Lincolnshire, UK	2Kg	£1	50p	13 April
SAINSBURY’S	Baby new potatoes	Maris Peer	Israel	750gr	£1.50	£2	11 April
SAINSBURY’S	British White Potatoes	Orla / Saxon	Perthshire (by John Stewart) / Angus by Ian Fairlle, UK	1Kg	30p	30p	12 April/ 13 April
SAINSBURY’S	Baking Potatoes, Loose	Estima	Hertfordshire, UK			£1.18
SAINSBURY’S	Sweet potatoes	Sweet potatoes	USA	500gr	99p	£1.98	15 April
SAINSBURY’S	Baking potatoes x4	Harmony	Angus, UK (by Graham McEwan)		70p	17.5p (per potato)	13 April
SAINSBURY’S	British Vivaldi Salad Potatoes	Vivaldi	Angus, UK (by Ian Stirling)	1Kg	£1.99	£1.99	13 April
SAINSBURY’S	British Vivaldi potatoes	Vivaldi	Fife, UK (by Andrew Miller)	2Kg	£2	£1	14 April
SAINSBURY’S	British Maris Piper	Maris Piper	Lincolnshire, UK	1.5Kg	£1.39	93p	13 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	baby new potatoes	Nicola	Israel	750gr	£1.99	£2.65	10 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	new potatoes	Maris Peer	Israel	1Kg Offer: 2X1Kg=2Kg	£1.99 Offer: £3	£1.99 Offer: £1.5	08 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	miniature new potatoes	Maris Peer	Israel	500gr	£1.99	£3.98	08 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Baking potatoes (Class I) Loose	Marfona	British			£1.79
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Charlotte potatoes	Charlotte	France	700gr	£1.04	£1.49	11 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Organic new potatoes	Maris Peer	Israel	750gr	£1.89	£2.52	04 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Organic potatoes	Sante	Israel	1.5Kg	£1.99	£1.33	11 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Everyday potatoes	Marfona	Lincolnshire, UK (by George Read)	2.5Kg	£1.32	52.8p	13 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Maris Piper	Maris Piper	Lincolnshire, UK (by Steven Wrisdale)	2.25Kg	£2.49	£1.11	11 April
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	New potatoes, Loose (washed)		Israel			£1.89
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	Maris Piper, Loose, Baking potatoes	Maris Piper	UK			£1.79
MARKS & SPENCER (M&S)	King Edward potatoes	King Edward	Essex, UK (by Allan Stevenson)	1.75Kg	£1.99	£1.14	11 April

Sources:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2548/2

‘Agriculture in the United Kingdom – 2009 edition’ PDF document

Credits:
Jelena Sinadinovic (for providing prices from Novi Sad, Serbia)
Nicholas Primentas (for providing prices from Athens, Greece)

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