Poor potatoes

Grouchy

Not sure if this is the right place but ...

For many months, all the potatoes I have bought have been a) partly damaged b) sprout almost instantly despite good home storage c) have eyes that are huge and unsightly (and wasteful).  I've tried all kinds of varieties, top quality, top price, but all similar.  It seems the quality of UK growing methods and/or storage is well below what they used to be.  Its the only explanation I can find.  Apart from SM buys, I've tried local grocers, a bit better but still inferior and not worth the premium money.  Also I tried a couple of farm shops.  Crazy thing is, the farm shop person recommended buying not the local grown products but imported from Spain!  I bought both, local ones very average, but the Spanish imports looked and tasted excellent.  Really weird.

Do other people find the same?  I';ve talked to friends in different parts of the UK and they say similar things.

Really bad news as I love potatoes. And we were famed for quality potatoes

Sorry bit ranty.  Just tired of hoping for better and wasting lots of money having to cut so much away and having poor taste. 

MrsStepford

Suggest that the sales of potatoes have probably shot up over lockdown, with people making comfort food like sausages and mash, shepherd's pie, baked and roast potatoes plus chips. The stores from last year of larger potatoes are probably dwindling and perhaps the quality with it. Also, Easter is the time to plant spuds traditionally, so the only new season spuds at the moment will be Jersey Royals or new potatoes, probably. Spanish spuds will be further along as their growing season starts earlier. 

Grouchy

Thanks for reply.  But this has been the case many months before lockdown.  Even buying potatoes 'in season' I've not found anything decent.  The potatoes sold as new, eg Charlotte and Jerseys are expensive and poor.

Though some times of year you traditionally expect inferior pots due to growing cycle but it seems it is 'the norm' is poor.

Maybe I will just switch to Spanish, seems a pity.

Wonder if anyone has better experience to share.

Tks

JulieM

Have you tried Albert Bartlett Rooster potatoes, they're usually good.

MysteryMe

I know what you mean, I bought 4 "extra large" baking spuds from Waitrose for £1.70 and they were rubbish, none were what I would class as extra large and one was 50% rotten.  I did buy a 2.5kg of British Jacket spuds for £2 from Iceland and they have been pretty good quality, think only one looked like a shovel had gone through part of it.  I've looked on the bag, they are UK Melody

[Deleted User]

I’ve just been buying tinned boiled potatoes. They are perfect, last for years so no waste and very cheap. They’re also already peeled and only take minutes to cook.
Thats the future!

PLRFD

I agree the quality of spuds has gone down for quite a while now I hear about them being stored for a very long time the flooding we had and other things affecting quality. So fed up of peeling a good looking potato to find lots of black under the skin and another thing it used to be 20 minutes to boil them lots of them seem to take far longer to cook now ?

Farway

I wonder if some of this could be down to the weather during their growing season, from memory it was very dry, and we then had floods

suki1964

Last years growing season was extremely bad - remember the floods?

The best potatoes at the moment if you can find them are Agria, grown in Lincolnshire, but they too are dwindling. They do feel spongy but I can keep a sack in my garage for a couple of weeks and they are fine. They make the best ever roasties and chips and they boil and mash really well

sarah1972

Deleted_User said:

I’ve just been buying tinned boiled potatoes. They are perfect, last for years so no waste and very cheap. They’re also already peeled and only take minutes to cook.
Thats the future!

Definitely not the future in my house ! If only they tasted of potatoes and not plasticky tasting water. 

I haven’t had any problems recently, I have new potatoes and just normal white potatoes in my shed cupboard from over a week ago and they are still firm with no sprouting at all. 

maman

Thanks for the info. I'm sure it must be the result of last year's harvest. I, too, have noticed a lot of wastage lately. 
There is a place for tinned potatoes. I like them sliced and fried and they're quite good in a frittata but that's about it.