On Thursday 7 November 2013 Agrico opened its annual varieties and seedlings show at its breeding and research farm, Agrico Research, in Bant. The varieties show, which has already welcomed a large number of Dutch and international visitors, continued on Friday 8 November. During the opening day, Jan van Hoogen, Managing Director, presented five new promising potato varieties that have been accepted onto the national varieties list.

The theme for the Varieties Show is Holland. The Netherlands is an important market for Agrico, where it introduces varieties into the entire chain up to and including retailer’s shelf. A successful example of this is Gourmandine, which is not just popular with Dutch consumers but internationally as well. In France, Gourmandine was recently crowned “taste of the year” for the fourth year in succession.

During the varieties and seedlings show the focus was on three special varieties, which Agrico believes will strengthen its market position in the Netherlands. All three are distinctive from and supplementary to the current range. Erika is an early speciality table potato which is ideal for potato salad. Rosagold is a fairly waxy table variety that produces a delicious tasting mashed potato. Carolus is a yellow, fairly floury potato which is ideal for roasting.

Variety development is essential for Agrico so that it can continue anticipating the wishes of growers, consumers and processors throughout the world. During the opening day, Jan van Hoogen, Managing Director, presented five new promising potato varieties that have been accepted onto the national varieties list.
 

Three of the newly introduced varieties originate from the company’s own breeding farm, Agrico Research. Esmee is an early, red-skinned variety with excellent consumption quality. Its stable shape and excellent storage characteristics make this an outstanding variety. The second variety, Action, is an early chipping potato;yellow-fleshed and perfect for cooking fresh fries.

The third variety, Carolus, is the first Phytophthora-resistant variety that has been developed entirely from concept at Agrico Research. This variety has many other appealing characteristics, including its ideal use as a chipping potato, high yield, high level of nitrogen utilisation and excellent stress resistance. Agrico therefore regards Carolus as its most sustainable variety at the moment.

Two of the new varieties originate from Agrico’s affiliated breeders. Maatschap Jalving from Wezup received an award for Bridget, a white-skinned chipping variety that is suitable for the QSR sector and for fish and chip shops.

The last of the five new varieties is Bellefleur, which is bred at the Jippes farm in Nagele. Bellefleur is a red-skinned consumption variety for the Dutch, Scandinavian and East-European markets. This variety is fairly floury, has excellent taste and is easy for allotment growers to grow for their own consumption.