NewsIndustrySmilin’ Eyes Potatoes Coming to P.E.I.

Smilin’ Eyes Potatoes Coming to P.E.I.

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A Prince Edward Island potato farmer is hoping a new variety of spud with distinctive pink markings will be a big hit in Island stores, and eventually make its way to the U.S.

Johnny MacLean, from West Devon, P.E.I. bought the exclusive North American rights for the seed. But the potatoes didn’t have a name — just a number. So he dubbed them Smilin’ Eyes Irish Gold.

“The eyes on them are kind of flashed pink eyes, and some of them look like they’re smiling at you, that’s why I named them Smilin’ Eyes,” he says.

MacLean adds the yellow-fleshed spuds not only look good, they taste good — and he’s eaten a lot of potatoes during his 40 years of farming. “Everybody that gets them says there’s nothing like them,” he says.

MacLean got the exclusive rights to sell Smilin’ Eyes from the Potato Variety Management Institute in the U.S., which handles licensing and royalty collection on potatoes on Washington, Oregon and Idaho potato varieties.

Executive director Jeanne Debons says MacLean submitted a marketing plan outlining why he should get an exclusive contract for Smilin’ Eyes in North America. The five-year contract cost $15,000, and PVMI charges a $1 per hundredweight royalty on the seed.

MacLean, who planted 100 acres of Smilin’ Eyes last spring, says the potatoes even attracted attention while they were still in the ground thanks to their pink flowers.

“The prettiest field you ever want to see,” he says. “People would stop there. I seen two, three, four cars stopped there at once, taking pictures. They’re real pretty.”

Some stores in Prince County have just started selling Smilin’ Eyes. MacLean says they cost a bit more than regular potatoes because they’re a specialty variety.

MacLean has his eye on the U.S. market, especially in Boston and New York, where he says there are many people of Irish descent.

For more information, visit CBC News.

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