16th May 2014
Jersey Royal potato company is taken over
The Jersey Royal potato is one of the island’s most distinctive and best-known exports, which is why it was big news when, in 2014, Produce Investments bought the company behind it for £15m, having improved upon the £12m it had originally given as a guide price for the acquisition. Produce Investments is based near Chirnside in the Scottish borders and is the parent company of one of Britain’s biggest potato producers.
Two years previously, Jersey Royal exports had declined by around 10% after a difficult growing season. The following year, the crop was delayed by snow and generally colder weather.
Working by hand
Planting starts in December of the year before the potatoes, traditionally one of the earliest “new” potatoes, are to be harvested, on south-facing, steeply sloping fields. Each potato is planted by hand, with the company moving on to flatter fields as the planting season continues. It takes around three months for a seed potato to produce a full crop, ready for harvest.
The Jersey Royal company grows potatoes on 1800 hectares of land spread around Jersey, and packs over 30,000 tonnes of the vegetable annually. This makes it Jersey’s largest land-user. The first Jersey Royal potatoes were planted by Hugh de la Haye on land at Bellozanne valley. The potatoes were initially marketed under the name Jersey Fluke, only taking on the Royal moniker towards the end of the 19th century.
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Other events that occured in May
Victoria College’s foundation stone is laid
- The foundation stone of the boys’ school that took Queen Victoria’s name was laid on her birthday in 1850.
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Daniel Brevint, Dean of Lincoln, is born in Jersey
- Daniel Brevint was son and grandson of Channel Islands clergymen (his father in Jersey and his grandfather in Sark) and became Dean of Lincoln.
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Lillie Langtry and the Prince of Wales begin their affair
- Lillie Langtry first met King Edward VII at a dinner. He was still plain Bertie, then and had specifically asked that she sit with him.
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Jersey’s open-air swimming pool opens
- The Jersey Times described the outdoor swimming pools opening as “one of the most brilliant functions witnessed in our island for some time”.
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