WHEN Hugh de la Haye stumbled across the remarkable Jersey Royal potato in the late 19th century agriculture was all about the sweat of men’s brows and technology meant little more than horse-drawn machinery supplemented by the occasional steam engine.

However, farmer de la Haye’s discovery of the famous ‘fluke’ and his recognition that he was on to something very special were the foundation of an industry that has helped generations of Islanders earn a living and enhanced Jersey’s name around the world.

Now, on the borders of St Helier and Trinity, a new facility, officially opened yesterday, is taking the Royal and those who grow, pack, export and retail Jersey’s principal horticultural product into a new age in which modern techniques and equipment are fully exploited.

The Albert Bartlett packhouse, named after the father of Ronnie Bartlett, the Scottish expert who is the source of the inspiration and drive behind the initiative, is an impressive state-of-the-art building. By washing, cooling, packing and delivering Royals to the UK market within 24 hours it has been designed with the express purpose of enhancing the quality and reputation of the world’s finest new potato.

In common with Sainsbury’s, the supermarket giant which will sell the produce from the new processing centre, Mr Bartlett is eager to see the Royal resume its rightful place as the UK’s potato of choice. He tacitly accepts that in recent years standards have slipped and that exported Royals have too often failed to match the expectations of consumers.

But he and his UK client are intent on rather more than making cosmetic changes to the exported crop. They insist that taste, rather than appearance, must be king – a quality which, at the outset, made the Royal stand out from the competition.

If this represents good news for UK shoppers, it is also a development to be heartily welcomed in this Island. The extent of the Bartlett family’s investment represents a major vote of confidence in the future of the industry from which Jersey derives so much of its character, pride and sense of identity. It is not only growers who have reason to be grateful to the Bartlett family, but everyone who cares about the Island’s heritage.

In addition, the fact that the major producing groups are now servicing separate UK distributors should mean an end to the period of disputes and wrangling that was dubbed the ‘potato wars’.

Meanwhile, the new centre’s crowning glory speaks of the Bartletts’ appreciation of the part the Royal has played and continues to play in Island culture. A fine sculpture of a woman harvesting our regal crop pays tribute to the unsung legions of workers who have planted, tended, dug and packed the offspring of de la Haye’s great find down the years.