Tesco will start selling the world’s “most expensive and exclusive” potatoes across the UK for the first time this week.

They are called La Bonnotte and are normally only grown on a small island off France. Their price can be up to £400 per kilogram.

However, Tesco has sourced a new supply, grown on Jersey, and will be selling them for the equivalent of £2.65 per kilo.

Tesco senior potato buyer Andy Blackett said: “La Bonnotte are the caviar of the potato world and kilo for kilo are among the planet’s most expensive foods along with white truffles, saffron, macadamia nuts and Beluga caviar.They have a unique and complex taste that is simply out of this world – as seaweed is added to the soil to enrich their production there is a distinct hint of sea saltiness as well as lemon and an earthy nuttiness.”

La Bonnotte commands a high price because normally only about 20,000kg is grown each year and they are handpicked because they are too fragile to be cultivated by machine.

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