AHDB Potatoes’ Next Generation recently continued its exploration of Great Britain’s diverse potato industry with a processing-focused, whole supply chain day at McCain GB Foods Ltd Headquarters in Scarborough.

The aim of the Next Generation program is to develop future leaders in the industry and to provide them with exposure to the wider supply chain. The program includes business and technical sessions, as well as supply chain visits.

This particular visit incorporated crop production processes at local potato seed and ware growers, James Stockdale Ltd (‘Stockdales’), followed by a tour of the McCain facilities at Scarborough.
The day concluded at nearby Haven Holiday Park, Primrose Valley in Yorkshire, where the end product produced by McCain’s food service client Bourne Leisure Ltd – who provides holidays and holiday home ownership in the UK – was presented.
Next Generation delegate, Andrew Johnston of Albanwise Farming Ltd, commented on the value of the day: “Personally, as farm manager for a large seed producer, I am very knowledgeable about seed potatoes, but keen to learn more about what happens after. My awareness was limited about what the ware grower and…processers like McCain do, and about the end user delivering directly to the consumer. It’s enlightening to see what direction they are all moving in and their individual challenges. It enables someone like myself, right at the very start of this chain, to better understand their perspectives and to help cater to their needs.”

With a focus on how to manage and maintain a reliable and consistent supply of high-grade processing potatoes, delegates headed to Stockdales to start the day. A diverse enterprise, Stockdales undertakes the production and grading of seed and ware. Delegates were given insight into the washing, cutting, chitting and storage of potatoes alongside Stockdales’ successful haulage business, which delivers around 80% of total haulage into McCain’s Scarborough site, 24 hours a day, all year round.

Following an in-depth tour of the progressive and highly technical processing factory, McCain detailed how they deliver GBP110m directly into the UKs agricultural industry, while also operating in over 160 countries across worldwide. The group continues their learning in July and August, with visits to International Procurement & Logistics Limited in Cambridgeshire and AHDB’s SPot Farm West in Staffordshire.

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