First Early Potatoes from Northern Ireland in the shops

The first Comber Early potatoes are going on sale in shops and for use by restaurants across Northern Ireland.

With their own unique flavour, Comber Earlies have achieved PGI status which recognises the Comber spud alongside some of Europe's most iconic regional food brands, such as Feta Cheese, Champagne and the Cornish Pasty.

Chair of the Comber Farmers' Market committee run by the Comber Regeneration and Community Partnership, Alderman Deborah Girvan, says: "I know it has been a difficult winter for our potato farmers with late frost preventing them from planting and indeed keeping them awake at night.

"It is fantastic, therefore, that some will be available from the start of June. Then, of course, the whole county looks forward to the Comber Earlies Food Festival later in the month, when all the producers can come together to celebrate this humble and tasty little spud."

Comber Earlies are the first potato harvest of the year in Northern Ireland. The potatoes are grown on the shores of Strangford Lough, where the milder climate and fertile soil provide ideal early conditions. Earlies tend to be richly flavoured, and are famous for their unique taste. Growing earlies is an expensive business because of the tight timetable which usually requires covering the crop with plastic.

Comber New Season potatoes are available from the beginning of June to the end of July.

The first earlies are usually harvested in small quantities and eaten straight away when fresh boiled.

Second earlies and salad varieties can also be harvested in small quantities and eaten when fresh in June and July. Alternatively, if the skins are allowed to 'set' - they don't rub off when lifted - they can be lifted in September and stored in a cool, dark, frost-free area as main crop varieties.

New Season Comber potatoes were granted PGI status in 2014, following similar recognition for Lough Neagh Eels. Armagh Bramley apples have also gained PGI status from Europe.

The granting of PGI status under European law means that only new season potatoes harvested from fields around Comber in County Down can now be marketed as 'New Season Comber Potatoes' or 'Comber Earlies'.

The award to Comber potatoes followed an extensive lobbying campaign spearheaded by the Northern Ireland Potato Stakeholder Forum to achieve European recognition of the unique growing conditions around Comber, a generally warmer and sandier soil and the longest growing season of more than 270 days.

There are currently fewer than 20 Comber potato growers in Northern Ireland supplying the retail and foodservice sectors.

Comber Earlies have been grown since the early 17th century in Northern Ireland in an area dominated by Strangford Lough, the largest inlet in the British Isles, and a designated area of special scientific interest.