Pieter Ijsselstein is a craftsman on Prince Edward Island, whose latest product may find an international audience. Ijsselstein has created soap out of the Island's famous potatoes and hopes that the P.E.I brand will mean his products can enter markets across Canada and abroad.
Ijsselstein said using starchy potato juice in soap just made sense.
Pieter Ijsselstein: "This is a great product for P.E.I.,."
"It's something that can be sold abroad, across Canada, different countries, because of the potato brand: the P.E.I. brand."
Waste potatoes put to use
Ijsselstein said one of the great things about the product is it uses potatoes that would otherwise be thrown away. Farmers are often stuck with them, and are paid just pennies per pound, if anything.
Pieter Ijsselstein:
"It's a great use for cull potatoes."
"I'm up to a point where I'm using about 100 pounds (45 kg) of cull potatoes per day."
Ijsselstein is investing in some new equipment so he can ramp up his production.
The soap is currently sold at a number of retail outlets across the Island.
Source: potatopro.com
