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In Season: Jersey Royals

The reigning monarch of new potatoes.

Jersey Royals

Few vegetables have a cult following like Jersey Royals do. Each year potato fans wait for the first of the crop to hit the shops. The anticipation is rooted in their short growing season (April to July) and the fact that these sweet, nutty wonders must come from the island of Jersey to qualify for the cherished PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) certification.

Jersey Royals in a field

Jersey Royals: the secret’s in the côtil

Jersey sits just 14 miles off the coast of France and 85 from the UK. Being so far south, the island is the sunniest spot in the British Isles. And as it’s an island, they experience mild winters and warm summers of a maritime climate. Together this makes it ideal for growing potatoes.

Jersey Royals are grown on côtils or small fields that slope steeply towards the sea. This incline means they drain well, and the south-facing fields catch lots of sun. Mineral-rich seaweed (known as 'vraic') is harvested on the shore and spread on the fields, providing essential nutrients for the spuds.

From harvest to cooking Jersey Royals

The famous Jersey côtils are too steep for tractors, so Jersey Royals are planted by hand in January and harvested with winches from April to July.

These are true 'new potatoes', harvested before full maturity. This means their sugars haven’t converted into starch, and their skin is not fully developed. They are sweeter than usual, and you only need to wash their famously thin and wispy skin rather than peel them.

Have a look at these delicious ways to enhance the flavour. Try Jersey Royals with rosemary and lemon or Jersey Royals with herb salsa and anchovies.

Harvesting Jersey Royals
Meet the growers
Growers

We buy our Jersey Royals from Albert Bartlett and The Jersey Royal Company. Albert Bartlett are the UK's leading supplier of potatoes. They were founded in Scotland in 1948 by Albert Bartlett himself, and although they now work with more vegetables and fruit, spuds have always been key to their business. So it's natural that they'd get involved with Jersey Royals.

Albert Bartlett started working in Jersey in 2007, and bought The Jersey Royal Company (the island's largest producer) in 2024. As well as using traditional ways of growing and harvesting the potatoes, they process them using the most modern methods. So they’re washed, hydro-cooled, packed and shipped within hours of being harvested. Albert Bartlett also works to conserve water and reduce their environmental impact. .

Did you know?

  • All Jersey Royals come from a single spud in 1878 – local farmer Huge de la Haye found a giant potato with 15 eyes (the new roots for new plants) which he split with friends. These grew into the first crop of Jersey Royals.
  • The taste and number of potatoes, not to mention their fortunate origin, led a local paper to call them the Royal Jersey Flukes, which was later shortened.
  • It is thought that potatoes were introduced to Jersey in 1775. Before that, islanders grew parsnips.
Jersey Royals

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Jersey Royal recipes

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