Strathtay Potato Company was formed in October 1983 with Mr John Smith as sole proprietor.  The business quickly flourished and Mr Richard Moore joined the Company in 1985, initially as a buyer and latterly as a partner when the business moved into a partnership.

 

Prior to the Company formation, John had had several years in the Potato trade.  His first being in 1976 when due to an exceptionally dry summer and resultant low yield, prices for potatoes reached unrecorded levels.

 

The business started as wholesale potato merchants and quickly grew to be an important part of the local potato merchanting trade.  Initially the business traded both Seed and Ware potatoes but gradually the accent was on ware potatoes and this allowed the business to develop strong customer base for the bagged market.  A spin off of this was the creation of the companies own branded bag which is now commonly recognised in most wholesale markets in the UK.

 

The Business continued to grow and as the requirement for washed potatoes began to increase Strathtay began supplying several of the large packers with quality pre-pack material.  These relationships were built up over the years and led to the Company trading over 30,000 tonnes of potatoes per annum.

 

As customer requirements changed the Company has developed many niche markets and now provides many of their customers with a range of varieties for pre-packing, chipping, processing and general wholesale trade.

 

The Company has built an excellent reputation within the industry and has received tremendous support from its suppliers.  These growers are mainly in the heart of the Scottish potato growing area of Angus but supplies are procured from Aberdeenshire to the Borders.

 

With most of the supplies coming from the Angus area and with the office based in Forfar it allows the staff to inspect mose consignments prior to dispatch.  By spending many hours on farm this allows relationships to develop not only between growers and merchant but between merchant and customer which creates a confidence that can only benefit all parties.

 

The Company has also been involved in the export of potatoes to various countries in Europe and this continues to be an expanding part of the business.

 

The Strathtay Potato Company has developed into a well respected, reliable and reputable business with an aim to provide suppliers and customers with a service and commitment that will be hard to beat anywhere.