John Garton, the executive director of Jersey Product Promotion Limited, has revealed that within the past fortnight he received an image taken in a Liverpool supermarket of a sale placard next to a box of potatoes, with the words ‘Royal Jersey Potatoes’ emblazoned on it.
The Jersey Royal potato is protected by a legal trademark and only those grown in the Island can be branded as Jersey Royals. It also benefits from EU Protected Designation of Origin status, a scheme which identifies regional and traditional foods for which the authenticity and origin can be guaranteed.
Mr Garton said: ‘I became aware about 13 days ago of a supermarket selling “Royal Jersey Potatoes” in Liverpool from Italy.
‘Someone from Jersey – through a friend – messaged me on WhatsApp with an image they had taken of a sign in one of the supermarket’s aisles in Liverpool that read “Royal Jersey Potatoes” next to some spuds. The sign also said the potatoes were from Italy.
‘Our trademark allows us to write to the supermarket and this week their managing director was sent a cease-and-desist letter from our lawyers, asking the supermarket to stop what they are doing.
‘In the letter, our lawyers express their belief that this supermarket has acted improperly by using the words Royal Jersey Potatoes, and we’re waiting for a reply from the supermarket.’
Asked what action the JPPL will take if the supermarket chain – which is based in the north-west of England – does not respond in good time to the letter, Mr Garton added: ‘We’re pretty confident they’ll stop [selling the Italian potatoes as Royal Jerseys].
‘It may be [that the imitation branding has already been removed] because our lawyers sent someone to Liverpool to check a number of the supermarket’s branches and they couldn’t find any.’
Mr Garton said the fact that the Jersey Royal has a trademark means that the JPPL can police the potato’s protected status against companies that may ‘seek to ride on the back of the Jersey Royal brand campaign’.
The Jersey Royal is the only local food on the EU’s protected list, and it is worth about £28 million a year for the Island’s economy.
In his role with the JPPL, Mr Garton runs Genuine Jersey – an association of local producers which promotes the diversity and quality of their produce – and is also chief executive of Farm Jersey, the brand which assists Jersey producers with their exports. As such, he understands how important it is that the public are not misled by food sellers.
‘Otherwise you spend a lot of money creating a brand and anyone else who may be selling [imitation] Jersey Royals can benefit,’ he added. ‘Our lawyers constantly monitor websites to see if there’s ever any abuse of the Jersey Royal trademark.’
