Tesco has shaken up its potato supply contracts, resulting in sizeable redundancies at one of its long-standing suppliers, which is now facing ruin.
The Romney Marsh Potato Company said it had been forced to shed 81 of its 104 staff following the loss of its packing contract with the retailer.
The family-run Kent company had packed potatoes for Tesco for 47 years and said it had invested £2.2m in the past three years in state-of-the-art machinery. It packed 52,000 tonnes of potatoes a year for the retailer.
Tesco’s potato packing is now carried out by four companies - Premier Foods’ Branston, QV Foods, Greenvale AP and St Nicholas Court Farms.
Peter Thake, Romney Marsh’s procurement director, said: “I can’t understand Tesco’s thinking. It has admitted we have done everything for it that we should have done, and our quality record and service records are second to none.
“This was our total business. We only supplied Tesco, because that’s the way they wanted it. We want to find another contract, but these days most supermarkets are reducing their packers rather than looking for extra.
“We are still operating our transport fleet and looking for transport work, and we have 4,000 tonnes of cold store here which can be utilised.”
A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “We acknowledge the service of Romney Marsh Potato Company. We remain committed to buying potatoes from Kent and supporting Kentish potato growers.”
Greg Meenehan
The Romney Marsh Potato Company said it had been forced to shed 81 of its 104 staff following the loss of its packing contract with the retailer.
The family-run Kent company had packed potatoes for Tesco for 47 years and said it had invested £2.2m in the past three years in state-of-the-art machinery. It packed 52,000 tonnes of potatoes a year for the retailer.
Tesco’s potato packing is now carried out by four companies - Premier Foods’ Branston, QV Foods, Greenvale AP and St Nicholas Court Farms.
Peter Thake, Romney Marsh’s procurement director, said: “I can’t understand Tesco’s thinking. It has admitted we have done everything for it that we should have done, and our quality record and service records are second to none.
“This was our total business. We only supplied Tesco, because that’s the way they wanted it. We want to find another contract, but these days most supermarkets are reducing their packers rather than looking for extra.
“We are still operating our transport fleet and looking for transport work, and we have 4,000 tonnes of cold store here which can be utilised.”
A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “We acknowledge the service of Romney Marsh Potato Company. We remain committed to buying potatoes from Kent and supporting Kentish potato growers.”
Greg Meenehan
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