Potato farmers seek vodka distillery

Jersey farmers hoping to produce vodka from their potatoes are looking for a place to set up a distillery.

The Royal Vodka Project team has completed a feasibility study and believes it could make good quality vodka.

But that is dependent on them finding somewhere to base the distillery.

Project director Mick Cotillard believes there is a market for vodka in Jersey, and says America could also be a prime export target.

Selling problems

This is the latest project to try and make more of a success of the Jersey Royal potato.

There have been problems selling them in recent years as the UK supermarkets have looked elsewhere for their stocks.

Mr Cotillard hopes a farmer or landowner may have a suitable site for the distillery.

As the distillation process generates heat and carbon dioxide, he says it would be ideal to go into partnership with a glasshouse owner, who could use those elements in growing his own produce.