Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Morrisons says Scottish potato depot closure will not affect farmer suppliers

Morrisons is closing its potato grading and storage facility in Carnoustie.
Morrisons is closing its potato grading and storage facility in Carnoustie.

Supermarket giant Morrisons says plans to close its potato grading and storage depot in Carnoustie will not affect its Scottish growers and its commitment to buying Scottish potatoes.

The company, which sources potatoes from 40 growers in Scotland, announced the closure of the grading and storage depot at Clayholes Farm near Carnoustie, on Tuesday.

It said the announcement, which will result in up to 12 redundancies, was made with “deep regret”.

The retailer said “continuing efficiency gains” in its supply chain had resulted in the Clayholes facility only grading 6% of the potatoes it handles, and its role could be absorbed by other parts of the Morrisons supply chain.

A Morrisons spokeswoman said: “The closure does not mean that Morrisons will be buying any fewer Scottish potatoes, nor is its commitment to Scottish potato growers in any way reduced.”

She said the retailer would be in touch with its Scottish potato farmer suppliers in the coming days to inform them of the changes.

Morrisons’ potato grading facility Clayholes Farm on Balmachie Road near Carnoustie.

The spokeswoman added: “We will now be asking growers to complete their own passports and encouraging due diligence when assessing stock suitability.”

When asked if the changes will result in costs for farmers, she said there would be no change for growers.

NFU Scotland‘s communications director, Bob Carruth, said the union was gathering feedback on the implications of the announcement on its members.

He said: “It is apparent that some who have previously supplied the plant were not aware of the planned closure.

“There is welcome commitment to Scottish potatoes in the Morrisons statement but we are awaiting further information on where supplies previously sent to Clayholes will need to be delivered to in the future, and whether that has cost implications for growers.”

The Clayholes facility has undergone a number of changes in the past few years and the site employed 90 members of staff five years ago when it was owned by Farmcare.

Redundancies followed the loss of a major contract, before Morrisons acquired the site in January 2017.

The retailer then made more than 30 job losses two years ago when it changed the role of the factory to become a grading and storage facility, with packing operations moved to sites in Gadbrook in Cheshire and Rushden in Northamptonshire.

It is understood Morrisons will now move all potato operations to the Gadbrook and Rushden sites.

Earlier this month Morrisons agreed to a £6.3 billion takeover bid from a consortium of investment groups.