Tesco will sell unwashed potatoes in UK supermarkets

Shoppers at 262 of the supermarket giant's 2,650 stores can now buy spuds as nature intended from the Branston organic range.

The logic behind selling potatoes with soil is it helps to block out light and slow down decay and could extend usability dates from five days to 11.

Customers will not however receive fewer spuds in the bag, as Tesco said it has taken soil into account and adjusted the weights accordingly.

Tesco will sell dirty potatoes for the first time since the 1970s in a bid to cut down food waste

Rob Hooper, from Tesco, told The Sunday Times: "Up until about 50 years ago, potatoes would generally be sold unwashed, and having a natural film of soil around them would help keep them fresher for longer.

"At the end of the 1970s, supermarkets and greengrocers moved towards selling more cosmetically perfect produce, and as a result, potatoes were washed before being put out on display."

Waste action group Wrap welcomed the move, adding that unused potatoes were one of the most likely foods to be thrown away each week. 

Will McManus, Wrap's sector specialist for fresh produce, said: "Wasting household food makes a huge contribution to global emissions, with 70 per cent of food waste, outside farms, coming from the home."

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Other foods most likely to be wasted by households include bread, milk, bacon, chicken and carrots.

Last week, Tesco responded to investors calling for it to boost sales of healthy food and drink amid growing evidence that the UK’s obesity problem has worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A consortium of investors, led by responsible investment NGO ShareAction, filed in February what is thought to be the first nutrition-based shareholder resolution at a FTSE 100 company.

Tesco, which is the UK’s biggest grocery retailer with market share of just under 27 per cent, on Friday announced it had committed to a “major new programme of reformulation” to improve the health profile of its products by 2025.

The grocery giant aims to increase sales of healthy products as a proportion of total sales to 65 per cent, which is an increase from the current level of 58 per cent.

Tesco plans to change its ready meals so at least two-thirds of them contain at least one of the recommended five pieces of vegetables or fruit that people should eat each day.

It also wants to increase sales of plant-based meat alternatives by 300 per cent as it aims to ensure more meal options for consumers.

• Would you buy unwashed potatoes? Let us know in the comments.