Seasonal changes

The texture, or what the potato is like when you cook it, can be quite variable. Weather, climate and soil can have a dramatic effect on the how a potato will cook. For example, a Southland grown Nadine may be very waxy whilst a Pukekohe grown Nadine may be only slightly waxy. Flavour can also vary. Similarly there can be variances if the season is wet and cold compared to a dry, hot growing season.

Also at different stages in the season a potato can be quite different. For example, an Ilam Hardy early in the season (October) is a ‘new’ potato and is quite waxy. As the Ilam Hardy gets older it is a good general-purpose potato, whilst towards the end of the season when a lot more of the natural sugars have converted to starch, it tends to be floury. So at the beginning of the season it is a perfect boiling potato making great salads, and by the end of the season it is brilliant for roasting or mashing. However, not all potatoes show such a range of characteristics.

This can make it quite confusing for you when selecting a potato to get a consistent end product, so we always encourage you to buy potatoes which have been packaged according to end use, or how they will cook. That way you can be assured that they will cook how you want them t