MORE than 3.8 million packs of fresh potatoes will be processed and distributed from Somerset in the lead up to Christmas Day.

National potato supplier Branston is in the process of sending out 900,000 packs of spuds from its Somerset factory, at Seavington St Michael.

Tomorrow, December 18, is expected to be the company’s peak packing day, with more than 1 million packs of Maris Piper, King Edward and White potatoes leaving its three sites - including Seavington - in just 24 hours.

Teams will be working around-the-clock to meet the demand for fresh potatoes as well as a selection of ready prepared roast potato products that just go straight into the oven.

“We gear up for the Christmas orders months in advance, to make sure that we have plenty of fresh potatoes and the people to help us pack and distribute them,” said Sharon Affleck, sales and marketing director.

“Christmas is the one day of the year when most people get to enjoy a roast dinner, and crispy, fluffy roast potatoes are an essential element.

"Whether it’s traditional King Edward or a more versatile Maris Piper or other type of White potato, roast potatoes are one of the best-loved parts of the festive meal.

“As we approach the big day the number of lorry-loads making their way to retailers in order to meet the demand for our fresh and prepared potatoes almost quadruples.

“On December 18 - our peak packing day – we’re anticipating the need for more than 4,000 staff hours, which is around a 50 per cent increase in ‘man-power’ compared to an average week day in the year.

"We’re also expecting to see more than 120 lorry loads leave our sites in Lincoln, Scotland and South West.”

Last year, 12.5m packs of King Edward, Maris Piper and White potatoes were bought in the week before Christmas, with 46 per cent of those were bought on the Friday and Saturday before Christmas Eve.

As well as packs of fresh potatoes, demand for prepared products – especially ready to roast potatoes - are also set to rise, with 100,000 packs expected to be produced at Branston’s prepared foods facility in Lincoln during the run up to Christmas and distributed across the UK.

Peak packing day for the factory’s prepared products is December 19, with orders expected to be 10 times higher than the average working day.