White Beauty

What do you get when you cross the disease-resistant Summer Delight potato with the multipurpose Australian favourite Coliban? A bright, versatile and extremely high-yielding new offering, according to Plant & Food Research.

The New Zealand-headquartered research organisation has unveiled White Beauty, a new potato produced from a 15-year breeding programme.

Plant & Food Research crop scientist John Anderson said White Beauty has a lower sugar and higher dry matter content than many other potatoes on the fresh market, making it a perfect all-round option.

“White Beauty comes with a lot of promise,” said Anderson. “Not only is it showing itself to be an excellent all-round cooking potato, it has a very nice taste, which we think will prove a real challenge to other potato cultivars in the market.”

Although marketed as White Beauty, the cultivar's name is Crop39, and is licensed to Morgan Laurenson. The new variety has been bred specifically for New Zealand conditions, although it is also being evaluated for production in both Australia and the US.

“White Beauty is set to become a serious market contender in the washed and brushed table potato range,” explained Morgan Laurenson managing director Bill Foster. “From the perspective of both the grower and the consumer, we believe White Beauty has the potential to be a hit. The characteristics of White Beauty also bode well for exploring new export opportunities.”

White Beauty will be commercially available to growers through Morgan Laurenson from 2017.