Consumers must be willing to pay a premium for lower-yielding and more difficult to grow potato varieties, according to Tom Murray, agronomist with O’Shea Farms.

Murray was responding to a question put to him at the national potato conference on variety decisions farmers will make in the future as they respond to chemistry and climate and disease challenges.

The conference had earlier heard that the Rooster remains by far the most popular variety on shelves, but that it was Maris Piper that saw the largest percentage increase in sales over the last year, although from a low level.

“The Rooster is still very growable, there is no one going to deny that. Maris Piper is probably one of the most inefficient varieties to be growing in terms of common scab, water use and all the rest of it,” Murray said.

“[Consumers] want consistency and they are not picking up any bag of potatoes. They are picking up a variety. There is more room in the salad and processing varieties for us to chop and change quicker to newer varieties but it is very, very difficult.

“What the supermarkets will tell you is great but what they want is very different and the consumer is the very same.”