Supermarket deal struck to sell surplus potatoes

Allanson's estimate about five tonnes of potatoes were given out at the Royal Show

More Manx potatoes will be stocked by Tesco after farmers highlighted a reduction in outlets to sell their crops after the firm's buyout of local supermarket chain Shoprite.

In a "potato protest", about five tonnes of surplus stock was given out at the Manx National Farmers' Union's stand at the Royal Manx Agricultural Show last month.

Owner of Allanson's Stuart Allanson said he was "grateful" a "one-off" deal with a lower price was done to sell the crops, but it would not be "sustainable" in future.

Tesco said it was "committed to supporting local suppliers" and was "proud to sell local produce in all our stores".

The stock being handed out at the show for free had been produced for sale in Shoprite stores before the chain was taken over by the retail giant.

Mr Allanson said he had continued to supply Tesco following the buyout "but we were just not selling the volumes that we used to, hence the surplus towards the end of the season".

He said the protest had highlighted the "need to buy local products, otherwise we go out of business".

'Grateful'

Following talks with Tesco, which included the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, a deal was stuck to stock more of the surplus, which saw the potato producer drop its price, and the supermarket in turn lower the price for a bag of the vegetables to customers.

Mr Allanson said he was "really grateful" as and "sales in recent weeks have been fantastic".

His business had been facing the choice of "package them up and sell them or dump them", he said.

However, he said the reality of the deal was "below the cost of production and not sustainable" in the future.

In a statement, Tesco said it would "continue to work closely with the government and local suppliers with local sourcing in mind".