Quality Process

We’re committed to quality from the very start of the supply chain. For us the quality of our potatoes has always been a priority. The way we grow, harvest and store our potatoes has certainly evolved over the years.

We have a dedicated team to carry out and administer the quality of all intake from our growing partners and suppliers.

All loads in are weighed prior to tipping and allocated a designated trace code which enables us to carry out full traceability from field to fork.

A 12kg sample is taken from each load for a thorough quality assessment to ensure the highest of standards are obtained.

Potatoes are mostly water (75% to 85%) and the water content varies with variety, maturity, growing location, seasonal effects, the fertilization program used and storage conditions.

We test the sample for dry matter, ideally looking for a 17% to 22% result. (dry matter is the material remaining in the potato after removal of water and the moisture content is the amount of water in the potato).

Potato dry matter content helps identify the starch content of potatoes and is a very important raw material property for potato processing as it affects processing yield as well as the texture of the produced end product.

The samples are then washed and inspected for any defects. We separate any potatoes from the sample that have any defects such as scurf, scab, bruising, green, rot, mechanical damage from harvesting.

We then hand grade the potatoes into different sizes for the specific requirements of our customers:

These sample batch is then weighed again (all grades and defect potatoes).

We also carry out a fry test – perfect sugar levels are the key to a golden chip. To test the sugar levels the sample potatoes are taken, chopped up and fried. Where they rank on the colour charts indicates the sugar content. The right levels will give a beautifully golden finish, while too much sugar will result in potato that quickly browns. Too little sugar means anaemic chips.

We provide a full quality report to our growing partners which includes photographic evidence. Each load is allocated either a grading score and identified into the following categories depending on its results from the quality process.

BRC Certificate of Conformity

Robert Lindley Ltd are very proud to have been awarded Grade A Certification in Global Standards for Food Safety. Receiving this accreditation is a testament to the teams continued hard work and dedication to ensuring standards of excellence.

BRC Global Standards provides a framework for us to manage our products and process safely and ensuring quality for the required criteria in the manufacturing, processing and packing industry.

The BRC Global Standard focuses on:

• The importance of management commitment.
• Quality management systems.
• Auditing good manufacturing processes – it’s not just a paperwork audit.
• Ensuring consistency, transparency and traceability in the supply chain