So has the great Scottish potato really had its chips?
FOR centuries, they have been a staple of the Scottish diet.
From mince and tatties to stovies, there was hardly a meal that did not involve some form of potato.
But it seems Scots are losing their appetite for the humble spud.
Instead they are turning to ready meals as well as pasta, couscous and rice, which are perceived to be faster to cook and more convenient.
Now Scotland’s potato farmers plan to fight back with an advertising and educational blitz.
The Potato Council has applied for 1.5 million euros (£1.1 million) from the EU to run a three-year UK-wide campaign using celebrity bloggers as ‘potato ambassadors’ to make the humble spud seem sexy. Plummet- ing sales have hit the 400 growers north of the Border hardest because the majority supply the fresh potato market, potatoes usually boiled, roasted or jacketed.
Ironically, the market for oven chips and crisps has remained steady but that sector is mainly supplied by English farmers who live near the factories.
Prices for Scottish potatoes have dropped from nearly £250 a ton three years ago to £77 a ton today.
Many farmers north of the Border say they can no longer afford to grow them unless young people start cooking with potatoes again.
Russell Brown, chairman of National Farmers’ Union Scotland’s Potatoes Working Group, said: ‘The younger generation are not eating potatoes like the older generation. They no longer want to be bothered with peeling – convenience is king. Young people want things like oven-ready chips, ready meals, fast food – and it is affecting us badly.
‘Yet there’s nothing simpler than baking a potato – and eaten with the skin on, it’s full of minerals and vitamins.
‘But at current farm gate prices of £77 a ton you cannot make a living. If that continues, many will give up growing potatoes.’
Mr Brown, who supplies Sainsbury’s and Tesco with some of the 7,000 tons of potatoes he grows each year at his Fife farm, added: ‘Diminishing demand for potatoes has seen retailers pay less attention to the marketing of the product. Sales are caught in a downward spiral that we must turn around.’
The Potato Council has already launched a major campaign aimed at primary schoolchildren to grow their own potatoes, and ‘cook your own’ schemes for teenagers.
Head of marketing Nick White admitted: ‘In their raw state there’s nothing sexy about potatoes – where people fall in love with them is with what ends up on their plate. It is the “ugly duck” syndrome.
‘Our research shows eating behavioural patterns start young and continue through life. We need to get young people to make potatoes their vegetable of choice again.’
The Scottish fresh potato crop has fallen since 2011 from 820,000 tonnes to 745,300 tonnes.