Later, Taters! Irish Abandoning Potatoes In Record Numbers

Emerald islanders dump the spud.

ByABC News
August 17, 2009, 9:39 AM

Aug. 15, 2009— -- It was a love affairthe world thought would never end — but what was once a feast is becoming a famine.

No, not that famine.

But all too true, the Irish appetite for potatoes is in a free-fall, according to just-released farm reports. And no matter how you slice them, boil them, bake them, mash them, or French fry them — the spuds are duds with their onetime best customers on the Emerald Isle.

Shoppers in the Republic of Ireland have cut their potato purchases by more than 10 percent in the last quarter and are spending almost 20 percent less than they were a year ago, according to market research firm TNS.

Lorcan Bourke, business analyst at the horticulture division of the Irish Food Board, told The Grocer magazine that shoppers were increasingly choosing rice and pasta, which they perceived as easier to cook than potatoes.

"It seems unreal," said a grocer in Donegal who had bins filled with ready-to-whatever taters. "When my Da' owned the place, we'd sell a fresh lot every day. But now, you've got..."

The British, of course. And that means things are getting ugly.

Just last week, an enraged group of Irish farmers stormed a meeting of Ireland's giant supermarket chain Tesco's, demanding that the retailer stop selling British potatoes at its Irish stores.

Around 30 potato growers burst into a meeting at a County Meath hotel attended by Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy and 200 managers. The farmers brandished bags of imported "Desiree" potatoes, which they claimed are displacing Irish potatoes on Tesco shelves around the country.

Irish Farmers' Association president Padraig Walshe was boiling mad: "Growers cannot stay in business because of Tesco's ruthless pursuit of profit and market share. The persistent pressure on the price paid to the producer will inevitably lead to thousands of job losses and will put Irish producers of local, fresh produce out of business."

The potatoes being sold were identical to Irish "roosters," that were plentiful in the Republic at this time, and there was no need for them to be imported, he added.