Potato supply agreement grows profits and cuts waste

Sole supply agreements in the potato processing sector are helping to improve profits, reduce waste and raise quality. An £8.4m investment by H J Heinz at its Westwick factory, just north of Norwich, is good news for potato growers in the area, says Ian Rainford, production manager at the site. "This is a big commitment from Heinz,"he says. "It has funded new processing and packing lines, which means that we will be able to process 100,000t of potatoes this year. That's a 40,000t increase."