The table potato variety Country is attracting increasing attention in the German fresh market. The search for stress-resistant, high-yielding varieties with consistent skin quality led Böhmer to begin trials with Country in 2023.
Clemens Kisters, Field Advisor at Böhmer, said:
"Country has the whole package. Based on the promising results so far, we consider Country to be a valuable addition to our range."
Böhmer is a family-run company focused on growing, packing, and distributing potatoes and onions for the German retail market. Potatoes account for around 75 per cent of the company's business. Production is spread across regions including Lower Saxony, eastern Germany, Magdeburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Pfalz, and Bavaria.
Clemens Kisters explained:
"Spread across these regions, around 700 growers produce potatoes for us on an area of 5,500 hectares. From one of our seven strategically located packing stations, we wash and pack the potatoes locally and deliver them directly to supermarkets."
The company operates exclusively in the fresh table segment, where visual quality plays a central role. According to Kisters, skin finish and uniformity are key buying criteria in the German market.
"Our customers are critical of the skin quality of the potato. They prefer yellow, shiny potatoes without blemishes and are quite particular about imperfections. Besides the price, consumers buy potatoes based on their appearance and taste."
Trials with Country were carried out in 2023 at five locations across Germany. The variety was selected for its tolerance to drought, resistance to common skin blemishes, and uniform grading potential.
"In addition, we need mealy cooking types in our range, which Country is?" Kisters said.
Trial acreage was expanded in 2024, followed by a further scale-up in 2025 across multiple growing regions. According to Böhmer, early results show consistent tuber size and stable field performance.
"Country appears to be a strong and easy-to-grow variety, producing a very homogeneous tuber size. This is an important advantage for sorting and packaging. We also found that the plant grows very fast and is a little earlier than other varieties we've been testing."
Looking ahead, Böhmer plans to continue expanding Country plantings and testing the variety under more challenging conditions, including areas with limited irrigation.
"Even on new land, such as former mining areas where irrigation is difficult, and the soil is less fertile, we have good expectations for Country because of its adaptivity," Kisters said.
Country, also referenced as CMK2017-039-011, is positioned as a packing variety with a focus on yield stability, uniformity, and supply continuity across the value chain.
Source: potatoPRO
