Based on a combination of in-house growing and a number of dedicated potato growers, Fylde Fresh and Fabulous control over 1,000 acres of complete potato production so you can always guarantee that the majority of raw material is home produced and processed.
This particular method also ensures that every peeled potato ending up as part of a ready meal or accompanying a fresh fish fillet from your local fish and chip shop can be fully traced back to the field along with its growing regime and history.
Discover our full process from Field to Fork.
Potato fields are carefully selected to ensure that they are suitable for our high standards. Soil structure is examined in order to determine the right variety to be planted. Different varieties have varying tolerances for either clay, silt or sand based soils.
We also look at the shape and contours in potential fields which have an effect on their production efficiency and environmental impact.
Seed stock selection is vital to ensure that the highest possible standards of crop health are maintained. Seed is selected from the best growers across England and Scotland. We also age our seed to ensure that the following crop of potatoes reaches the right level of processing quality when we need it.
Physiologically aging seed involves growing a small tough sprout from the seed potato which, when planted, emerges from the ground earlier, and therefore captures more sunlight across the season. This leads to an earlier matured and more consistent crop.
We ensure that our fields are extensively tested prior to planting for their soil’s nutritional content. This gives us a base from which to plan our fertiliser regime. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are the most important elements that regulate a plant’s growth.
To ensure we get the best quality potato from a field we need to carefully tailor our crop nutrition through our choice of fertiliser and application rates.
We now also utilise the digestate from our biogas plant as a fertiliser. This has brought fantastic benefits, such as acting as a source of nutrition and a source of organic matter which improves the structure of the soil.
Planting takes place between March and May, depending on the season. Every care is taken with our seed to ensure that it is handled gently and is planted into the best possible conditions.
Planting into a well-prepared and destoned seed bed, that is dry and warmed by the spring sunshine, will give our plants the best chance to produce a high yielding quality crop in the summer and autumn. We carefully control our planting process, using satellite guidance technologies to ensure accuracy of seed spacing, which should lead to an evenly sized crop across the field.
We harvest our potatoes between July, when the earliest varieties are dug and eaten straight away, to October, when the later varieties are placed into storage for the year ahead. Potatoes are fragile things and must be treated very gently when harvesting to minimise any damage caused between digging them from the ground to putting them into store.
Our highly skilled and experienced harvesting teams take every care when harvesting by regularly inspecting machines for areas that might cause damage and also minimising drop heights from the harvester into the trailer.
We store over 8000tn in a range of facilities that ensure we have a supply of consistent quality throughout the year. Many of our stores are temperature controlled which helps to regulate the presence of disease and also controls sprout growth.
All our stores are looked after by qualified store managers who know how to maintain the right conditions to ensure our chips fry at the right colour and are in the best possible condition before they are peeled.
All our potatoes are sampled throughout the growing season, and after they are stored, to ensure they are fit for purpose. We carry out field tests to assess yield and storage potential as well as other important factors, such as dry matter and fry colour.
As crops are harvested, we carry out bruise tests to ensure that our machines are set up correctly and that damage is minimised. Finally, before we use any potatoes in our production, we carry out thorough quality checks to ensure that any potatoes that leave our site meet our demanding specifications.
At Fylde Fresh and Fabulous, we operate our own fleet of delivery vehicles that ensure our fresh peeled potatoes reach our customers whenever they need them.
Having our own chilled vehicles means that we can be responsive to our customers needs and deliver across the country at any time of day.
Fylde Fresh & Fabulous, Preston - Fylde Fresh & Fabulous, Stanley Villa Farm, Back Lane, Weeton, Preston PR4 3HN
