Sheps Tapps into local spud market

Potato farmer Nicholas Tapp joined Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame to taste the first of 2005's Kentish new potato crop at the Crown Inn, Sarre, last Thursday.

The Tapp family, who started growing potatoes in Thanet more than 80 years ago, have formed a partnership with the Kent brewer to provide quality potatoes as part of the Sheps' Local Food from Local People campaign.

The Faversham brewery, which owns 370 pubs in London and the south-east, has adopted a policy of sourcing ingredients for its pub restaurants from quality local providers. The aim is to make pub fare as fresh as possible, while supporting the local community and protecting the environment.

Jonathan Neame said: "There's nothing like the taste of freshly-cooked new potatoes and visitors to our pub restaurants can look forward to enjoying the very best the Tapp family have to offer."

For many years, the Tapp family's St Nicholas Court Farm, at St Nicholas-at-Wade, near Birchington, was the largest suppliers of Desirees in the country, but changing customer tastes have broadened the farm's range to include other varieties such as salad and baby new potatoes, King Edwards, and Maris Piper.

The Tapp family now farms more than 2,800 acres.