It’s a given that Irish people love potatoes, but a recent survey by Tesco showed that Clare shoppers do not favour the tuber crop. Instead of buying potatoes Clare people buy grapes.
The survey by Tesco, which was compiled over 12 months, found that bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, berries and oranges were the top five fruit and vegetable preferences in 24 counties in the Republic of Ireland.
Clare is the only county in the Republic that does not have potatoes in their top five preferences of fruit and vegetables. The Banner county buys berries, bananas, tomatoes and oranges however, instead of potatoes grapes is in the counties top five selection.
There is hope for Clare yet in the vegetable aisle, as shoppers from the county buy a larger proportion of cabbage, carrots and parsnips than the rest of the country.
Cavan, Carlow and Roscommon are the most popular consumers of the tuber vegetable, with all three counties having potatoes as their second most popular fruit and vegetable.
So, do Irish people consume more fruit than vegetables or is it the other way around? According to the survey by Tesco, fruit accounts for four of the top five fruit and vegetable spaces and vegetables take the final place.
The survey found that Galway shoppers buy a larger proportion of broccoli, peppers and sweet potato than the rest of the country and Laois and Meath are among the top onion buyers in the country. Lettuce and mushrooms are most popular in Longford.
There is no Tesco in Kilkenny, therefore the county is not included in the survey.