SASKATOON – Potatoes are popular with Canadians. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, potatoes au gratin, the list goes on.
But Abe Dyck, president of Saskatoon Fresh Pack Potatoes, wants to put another kind of potato on the Canadian menu: Sous vide potatoes.
Sous vide means products are partially cooked, then vacuum-sealed. Cooks in restaurants, hospitals and homes are expected to save time in preparation. But more importantly to Dyck, sous vide products taste fresh.
“There’s no such thing as a fresh potato on the market (now),” he said.
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But Ieuan Evans from Alberta Agriculture disagrees.
“They’re natural tubers,” he said. “Spuds never lose their freshness.”
Potatoes sold commercially are chemically treated so they don’t sprout. If they are left in artificial light too long they will turn green and become bitter. Otherwise, they can “sit fresh indefinitely,” Evans said.
Still, sous vide products have potential. They are already popular in Asia and Europe.
Researcher Linda Yu at the University of Saskatchewan finished a study of sous vide potatoes last month. She said the potatoes last at least 35 days in the refrigerator and have “more fresh characteristics than flakes or powder.”
Even before doing a market study, Dyck is confident Canadian consumers will accept sous vide products.
“If it can be done economically, it would give us a much bigger market than we presently have,” said Dyck.
If that is the case, the Potato Growers of Alberta would also be interested in sous vide packaging, said Al Stuart. His group supports any type of value-added industry, and “we’d always like to sell more potatoes,” he said, adding there might be potential for the vacuum-sealed potatoes in foreign markets.
Dyck expects sous vide products to revolutionize the food industry.
“If it works for potatoes, it will work for everything,”
And there’s a good chance he’s right. At the University of Saskatchewan, Yu has started a study of sous vide meat products in collaboration with Intercontinental Packers.
But Dyck is concerned the price of sous vide packaging may not be economical.
In Europe, producers get more money for potatoes than in Canada. If vacuum packing is too expensive in Canada, “it won’t come to be,” he said.
