Potato growers, packers and processors in NI have been asked to contribute financially towards a three-year promotional campaign designed to stimulate local potato consumption.
The call has come from the NI stakeholder potato promotion group, a body chaired by Ulster Farmers’ Union deputy president, Ivor Ferguson, and co-ordinated by ex-DARD official, Ian Duff.
The group was set up last year in response to promotional campaigns in Britain and the Republic of Ireland, designed to increase potato consumption in their home markets. If the NI industry can get the necessary funding in place, there is the possibility that additional funds could be accessed from government.
To ensure that a programme is up and running by next autumn, the stakeholder group has asked for financial support to be made available by 1 March. Ware growers are asked to contribute £6/acre grown, packers and processors £6/acre or 40p/t, grower packers £9/acre and seed growers £3/acre. To deliver a professional campaign, the group needs to raise at least £40,000 per year.
Asking growers to back the initiative, Richard Orr, chair of Comber Earlies Co-operative, said: “I know production costs are significant for growers, but there is an opportunity to try to buck the trend of falling consumption. There are ads for rice and pasta on television at every turn. We must do some promotion ourselves. If we all stand together, it is much more doable,” he said.
Recent figures suggested that potato consumption in NI was down 7.5% in 2013/14 from the previous year.
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