What we do
Our produce
At Burgess Farms, we take great pride in our ability to grow, procure and deliver high quality fresh produce in the following categories to our dedicated retail partners.
We work in close partnership with our long-established grower groups, along with our own farming enterprises to plan, grow, pack and distribute the very best fresh produce for our customers, whatever their requirements or preferences.
Supply partnerships are key to our business and we pride ourselves on the longevity, scope and breadth of our relationships with our growers, service providers, valued colleagues, and customers – a truly great team.
Potatoes
Potatoes come in many shapes, sizes and colours and importantly all deliver slightly different cooking characteristics and textures when cooked. We only work with the very best varieties that perform at every meal occasion, successfully proven over many years and growing seasons.
We believe that everything starts by listening to our customers, and it’s our collective passion to find and deliver the very best potato for every meal occasion throughout the year.
We supply a potato for each occasion from our potato brands Harry & Percy and From my Farm and own label into retail:
Great all-rounders – these are carefully grown white potato varieties that perform well for mashing, roasting, baking and wedging.- Baking potatoes – large potatoes that make perfect jacket potatoes.
- Seasonal new potatoes – freshly harvested smaller tubers with a soft and fluffy skin, available for 12 months of the year from the UK and imported grower sources.
- Salad potatoes – smaller sized tubers that hold their shape when cooked. Not to be confused with a new potato!
- Organic – last, but certainly not least, as we pride ourselves on being organic potato experts. This range of potato is grown under strict organic crop protocols such as well-designed crop rotations, maintaining good soil conditions, encouraging natural pest predators, and more.
We’re always looking to improve our potato variety offer, and our search for new, special and different potato types is never ending! At Burgess Farms, we have our own special potato trial fields where we grow, pack, and assess hundreds of new potato varieties every year. New product development is essential for us, and innovation is at the very heart of everything we do as a team.
We also pride ourselves on being able to pack and supply fresh potatoes for our customers in most pack sizes, formats and packaging materials, ranging from a 200g individual portion pack to a 25kg sack!
Roots
Our carrots and parsnips are grown by our dedicated team of grower groups, starting off in Norfolk, then moving round the Suffolk coast, up to Shropshire and finishing of our late season in Scotland.
Our carrots are washed, hydrocooled and packed at our purpose built packhouse. Similarly, our parsnips are washed, graded and hydrocooled. This is done by our joint venture with Hiam’s, working in partnership with the six roto-cut trimming system which includes six produce simulators. This technology is helping develop the future of parsnip trimming and singulation.
- Carrots – expertly grown across different regions in the UK to ensure security of supply, using a number of varieties along with trailing new varieties
- Parsnips – early crop grown in the sandy Suffolk soils to help with early season quality. Late season stretches the Norfolk coast using the warmer weather to our advantage
Specialty
Specialty is at the heart of our business. We’re always trailing and developing new varieties across roots and potatoes, looking to develop commercially viable products and ensuring we excite our customers, ensuring we add theatre to produce aisles!
Growing specialty potatoes is an expertise of ours and we are proud to collaborate with the best farmers all over the UK to produce both premium heritage varieties and new innovative varieties that offer our consumers something special.
Specialty roots has been a big focus for us, as doing the difficult well is part of our bread and butter. Tendersweet carrots, bunched carrots, baby parsnips, and many more new varieties in the trail phase, with exclusive customer trials incorporated into these.
- Specialty maincrop – specially selected varieties such as Maris Piper, King Edwards and Alouette and others that excel from a taste perspective. These tend to be older, well established heritage varieties, but we have some new additions in addition to these to complement our range.
- Special and different – quirky, slightly different types of potato such as La Ratte. Definitely worth a try!
- Rainbow tendersweet – orange, beta and alpha-carotene pigment. This promotes Vitamin A production in the body, which is essential for healthy eyes. Purple, anthocyanin, beta and alpha-carotene pigment. Purple carrots typically have an orange core and their pigment-related nutrients may provide additional Vitamin A and prevent heart disease. Yellow, xanthophylls and lutein. Both are linked to cancer prevention and better eye health. Delicious roasted, steamed and raw in salads.
- Tendersweet – specialty varieties with high brix characteristics, chosen for sweetness and texture. Perfect for roasting, BBQing or chopped in salads.
- Chantenay – this can be recognised by its short, triangular shape, smooth skin and bright orange colour. Packed full of flavour with a satisfying crunch, Chantenay carrots are perfect for every day snacking or as a versatile recipe ingredient.
- Rainbow bunched carrots – beautiful, novel and delicious. Full of flavour, these are best enjoyed roasted or raw in salads, or as a tasty dip. Don’t forget to keep the leafy tops to make some delicious pesto!
- Bunched carrots – no need to peel, these delicious bunched carrots are lovely roasted, braised, steamed or in a str fry. They are delicious raw in salads too, but don’t forget to keep the tops, these are delicious in a summer salad or a winter garnish.
Organics
We have a dedicated organic division which specialises in growing, washing and packing organic carrots, parsnips and potatoes which has successfully grown and delivered organic produce to the marketplace for over 25 years. We’re passionate about the benefits our organic farming methods have on our soil, wildlife and environment and we have a team of committed staff who are dedicated to this unique part of our business. Within our own farming operation RBOrganic Ltd, we implement 10-year rotations to maximise the time between one crop in the same field to help our soil stay happy and healthy. In addition, we plant wildlife strips to actively encourage wildlife into our fields. Our washing and packing of organic produce also takes place within dedicated facilities to ensure minimal risk to the authenticity of our supply chain.
Insight and category management
Our purpose at Burgess Farms is to add value to potato and root categories in the UK, and consumer and shopper insight is crucial to this. We have therefore developed simple, insight-based category strategies and pride ourselves on our clear understanding of the organic consumer.
We access Nielsen data monthly and track range price and promotions in stores every week. We do this so that we can regularly report what is happening in the market, for own use and our customers’.
Grower groups
We firmly believe that sustainability starts with long-term partnerships; with our committed growers, with the land, with our customers and with our employees. We’re farmers first, and we understand that we need to work in harmony with nature in order to ensure healthy crops and a thriving future for agriculture.
From our perspective, sustainability starts with long-term partnerships
- With our committed Grower Groups
- With the land
- With our customers
- With our employees
Strategically spread across the UK, our resilient and forward-thinking Grower Groups contribute to our mission of providing high quality and fresh produce into retail, 364 days of the year.
Our unique relationship with each and every one of our growers ensures that we maximise our expertise and always strive for improvements.
We’re farmers first, and we know that we have to work with nature in order to ensure healthy crops and a thriving future for agriculture.
Our collaborative relationships with all our growers keep everyone held to account and always pushing for improvements.
Our strong, resilient and forward-thinking grower groups are active across conventional, organic and speciality.
Our organic and conventional farming teams work together, moving the conventional operation toward more regenerative practices whilst protecting the organic certification.
Roots – seasonality calendar
Our key partners
