EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY POTATOES

By Molly Borys

At Albert Bartlett our team harnesses the same passion and care to nurture our Extraordinary Potatoes that Albert had when he started the business 75 years ago in 1948, selling good-quality produce in Scotland.  We in turn, take great pride in our 700-strong team.

Over the years our expanding business has stayed true to Albert’s spirit of innovation – we are still proudly independent with the fourth-generation family part of the business.  Today, we supply potatoes from our network of farmers and growers across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Jersey. There have been many landmark ventures along the way – including the launch of our operation in the USA, in 2012. In 2015 we introduced our frozen potato range at Westwick in Norfolk, using our famous Albert Bartlett Rooster potatoes and in 2018, we opened a chilled facility at our site in Airdrie.

We are proud of our employees with many having been part of our journey for 10-20 years or more. Our minimum hourly rate is above the real living wage and we make it a priority to develop and nurture our staff. We have roles for all skill levels across the UK, from in our state-of-the-art factory to our corporate office. We aim to be an innovative and improving company that exceeds our customers’ expectations while operating in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way. The business prides itself on a strong-family feel environment.

It’s not just our people we look after. We are committed to supporting our local communities.  We work with local farmers and organisations to promote sustainable farming practices and work hard to reduce our carbon footprint.  At our main office in Airdrie, 70% of the water used to wash the potatoes comes from rainwater collected on the roof, with a further 25% coming from our own borehole, there is also a water-recycling system onsite which reduces our use of this precious resource.

Our partnership with Fareshare has seen us donate the equivalent of 10 million meals worth of potatoes, which have fed people in need across the whole country.

We like to do the right thing.  By our customers, our farmers, our retailers and our team.