Branston donation helps grow commitment to potato park
Branston Ltd, the UKs leading supplier of potatoes, has donated 10,000 to a Peruvian conservation project.
Branston, which has supported the Potato Park near Cuzco in Peru for many years, has donated the sum to the International Potato Centre at the request of former Branston chairman Chris Howard, who visited the Peruvian project earlier this year.
As dedicated potato people, Branston made a major contribution to the activities, donating the cash to the 12,000 hectare park which is one of the few conservation initiatives in the world where local people are managing and protecting local genetic resources.
Chris said: This is an incredibly important project, locally sustainable and dedicated to the production of potatoes. Its a research centre where work is done to conserve the genetic diversity of native varieties and help local farmers improve their potato yields.
Branston gave a donation of 9,000 to the park in 2008 to commemorate the Year of the Potato. This new donation will support training for local potato farmers, said David Nelson, Branstons field director.
Branstons 2008 donation went towards setting up the initial structure of the project. It paid for screenhouses and seed stores in the initial part of the project. This new donation is to ensure that that the project is fully utilised and seed multiplication can quickly get underway.
About Branston Ltd
Branston Ltd was set up as a co-operative of Lincolnshire farmers in 1968. The company grew and became a limited company. Today, Branston is privately-owned and one of the UKs biggest potato buyers, packers and distributors turning over 110 million in 2008.
Branston has sites in Lincolnshire, Somerset and Scotland. Across the UK, the company employs more than 600 people, with over 300 at its Lincoln site. In 1990, Branston began working with Tesco and is now one of the supermarkets top fresh produce suppliers. Branston branched out into prepared vegetables in 2005 and opened its own 4 million prepared foods factory in 2009. Branston was the first food producer in the country to receive the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of its environmental initiatives, which have resulted in a reduction in its carbon intensity over a three year period. This year Banston opened its anaerobic digestion plant that turns outgrade potatoes into electricity, part of a 2 million investment in green technologies at its Lincoln site.