While many of us may have been rejoicing at the hot, dry spring just gone, brassica growers up and down the UK have been thrown into disarray by the unseasonably warm weather conditions. It seems to have been something of a double-edged sword, with some products thriving in the temperate climes, but others feeling the heat.
According to Alasdair MacLennan of Southern England Farms, while high-quality spring greens have been in abundance as a result of the weather, supply of some cauliflower varieties has been erratic. “The open pollinated varieties planted for harvesting in April and May did not perform well, largely due to the stress caused by the prolonged dry spell, and this affected quality and availability problems nationally,” he explains.
But MacLennan notes the warm winter has helped bring on harvesting of some crops ahead of schedule. “Primo cabbage was three days earlier this year, pointed cabbage one week ahead of schedule and summer cauliflower one week early. Early-season crop quality has been very good to date,” he says.
But the unpredictability of the weather over the last two weeks has only served to exacerbate supply issues in a sector that does not seem to know whether it is coming or going. “The extremes of temperature across Europe have played havoc with production,” says Peter Davis of Lincolnshire-based importer-exporter Davis Louth. “Spanish broccoli is looking green as grass when it arrives to market, because temperatures over there are so high, but product is turning yellow within 24 hours. On the other hand, cold, wet conditions in France have dramatically pushed down broccoli yields. Normally I would expect daily yields in Brittany to stand somewhere between 28 and 40 tonnes at this time of year, but at the moment just 2t a day are being harvested. Bear in mind that this is a massive growing region, stretching from St Malo to Roscoff.”
Night-time temperatures of 2°C or 3°C, coupled with heavy rain and hail, mean there is also a dearth of broccoli from southern Germany. “The broccoli shortage is so severe that a retail promotion planned around the vegetable last weekend had to be cancelled,” says Davis.
And while the spring may have been unseasonably warm, a cold snap at the end of May has not made things any easier closer to home.
“The UK cauli crop is also taking a bashing,” says Davis. “It was 8°C here in Lincolnshire the other day, which is abnormally cold for the time of year. Although cauliflowers can withstand low temperatures, when the thermometer dips below 7°C, plants are stretched and stop growing. We should now be in full flow with the season, but there is simply not enough product around at the moment. We had a flush of English caulis until the end of April, and were exporting seven to eight trucks of the vegetable a week, but the rain and dip in temperatures, reaching as low as 2°C at night recently, have really put paid to this. We have been obliged to pull out of export programmes with certain countries as a result of this product shortage.”
According to Davis, prices have also been pushed up as a result of this scarcity of product. “Eight cauliflowers in the French region of Normandy’s auction system have been fetching £9.50 a box, and organic cauli has been commanding £2 a head. Unfortunately, the shortage means importers will really lose out financially, as not only do sales grind to a halt, but suppliers are fined £4 a box if they fail to deliver on their programmes.”
But the situation is expected to turn around within the next two weeks, believes Davis. “This is only a blip - a very expensive one, but only a blip. Nobody has supplies at the moment, but there is plenty of product to come and the outlook is really looking good.”
At Lincolnshire-based supplier Marshalls, current weather conditions have not affected production so much, with the company now cutting new-season cauli grown under polythene. Spring planting took place when the ground was moist and good volumes are now on the way, says the firm’s Nigel Clare. “We enjoyed a good winter in terms of both our homegrown crops and imports, and availability during the spring was also fine. Overall we are seeing a slight increase in sales, pegged at around two per cent.”
Clare predicts good volumes across all summer brassica lines in the first two weeks of June. However, while acreage for green cabbage and cauliflower is dwindling due to slowing consumer interest in the produce, and demand for broccoli has been largely static over the last two years following a levelling out of the marketplace, sales of Savoy cabbage and spring greens are on the rise.
“We are really up and down on certain lines,” says Clare. “For example, our cauli acreage is down slightly, as there is a reduction in demand across all our markets, both export and the UK. Whereas we used to grow a lot of product destined for the frozen sector, more and more of this is now being grown overseas, for example in Poland and Belgium, and we simply cannot compete with their cost of production. Consumers are definitely not as concerned or aware of where their frozen veg has been grown compared to their fresh purchases.
“Cauli in the UK generally retails close to the cost of production, providing borderline returns to growers and making this vegetable the poor relation within the brassica category and the wider veg arena as a whole. Many growers are therefore opting out of cauli production, as returns are too low against the risks involved in growing the crop,” Clare adds.
According to Stuart Cox of seed breeder Sakata, variety choice is increasingly important for summer brassica production as growers face static prices for their produce, plus increased climate pressure with the trend for hotter, dryer summers. “Growers need to ensure they harvest the maximum number of heads per acre within customer specifications, to stand any chance of profitable production,” he says. “This situation is particularly true for cauliflower growers, who face declining demand across the summer season. Sakata UK has seen good growth of its leading summer variety, Concept F1, for this reason. Concept has demonstrated over the past three seasons a reliable cycle time, a high percentage of class 1 curds, plus tremendous yield if used for florets, even during stressful growing conditions.”
Sakata’s Parthenon F1 broccoli variety has gained ground for similar reasons, according to Cox, and is already a leading variety in Spain. “Parthenon is a vigorous variety that copes with stress, and its shelf-life potential is particularly important, along with its fine beads and excellent green colour. These features not only help growers, but are important for packers, retailers and consumers who appreciate these advantages. Put simply, tonnes per acre is the key to profitability, and this is what Parthenon F1 delivers.”
However, a hot, dry summer can lead to depressed brassica sales, and some suppliers believe that the way to combat this downturn is to target the cash-rich, time-poor consumer with a greater focus on prepared and organic product.
Marshalls is gearing up to offer a wide range of summer brassicas this season, covering everything from staple lines such as broccoli, cauliflower, green cabbage, red cabbage, white cabbage and Brussels sprouts to more unusual items, including Savoy cabbage, spring greens, Pak Choi, mini Pak Choi, baby red, white and green cabbage, Cavallo Nero (or black cabbage), pointed cabbage and red pointed cabbage.
The emphasis with these latter items is clearly on versatility and the prepared market. “Sales of wholehead brassicas are static, because the product does not have a trendy image, so we must look at products that are not only convenient and time-efficient, but are also what we call fridge-friendly,” explains Clare. “For example, more niche items like spring greens, kale, Pak Choi and Savoy cabbage are certainly rekindling consumer interest in the brassica category - they can be sold loose, but can also be shredded and bagged, making them versatile and ideal for dishes like stir-fries. Savoy has a nice flavour, and shoppers perceive it as good value for money.”
Marshalls has recently installed a new high-care and medium-care packing facility in a bid to target the convenience sector. “We offer broccoli and cauliflower florets and bags of shredded brassicas, and have a number of other prepped lines due for launch in September,” says Clare.
But Davis believes that wholehead product can still hold its own in the marketplace, thanks to an increasing awareness among consumers of environmental issues. “Sales of prepared and wholehead cauli and broccoli are running parallel,” explains Davis. “Over the last six months in the UK, consumers have been ringing us up and asking for the most eco-friendly products possible, so there is certainly still a strong demand for wholehead brassicas, which come without reams of packaging and are less energy-intensive.”
But both suppliers are unanimous that organic brassicas represent a huge area of potential for the future. “Growth in this category is exceptional, particularly since the in-store integration of conventional and organic fresh produce at Tesco and Sainsbury’s,” explains Clare.
And according to Davis, his firm’s organic brassica sales doubled in the last month compared to the year-earlier period. “Consumers simply can’t get enough of the category,” he explains. As a result, Davis Louth is encouraging cauliflower growers in Brittany to convert more of their production over to organic. “An added incentive for them is the far higher prices they can fetch with non-conventional lines,” adds Davis.
The trend toward lighter brassicas during the summer months has also opened up a new outlet for growers and seed breeders alike. While Pak Choi has always been an important item for Sakata in its domestic Japanese market, year-round demand in the UK is also becoming established, thanks to the product receiving tremendous publicity and TV chef time. This has helped boost sales of a brassica which is seen as both mild-tasting and easy to cook.
“Pak Choi Qing Choi F1 is our latest variety, used by UK growers to maintain year-round production of dwarf green Pak Choi,” says Cox. “We are also now trialling a new white-stemmed dwarf variety called C3-307 F1 with growers, which has great potential to further boost sales. When packed together with green Pak Choi, it makes a very attractive retail pack.”
According to Clare, there is always pressure on price, so the key is for suppliers to remain as innovative as possible with their range. “We are taking more and more of our packing to the field, which can reduce costs and boost freshness,” he says. “We are also trialling new production techniques on cauli to combat higher labour costs at point of harvest, increase yield per acre and boost our export market share to give an overall better return to growers.”
Marshalls is by no means the only UK company to start looking at brassica markets further afield. Davis Louth now sends UK-grown produce to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Scandinavia. “We are expecting good sales of UK brassicas overseas during the summer, and have our usual broccoli export programmes to Hungary this summer,” says Davis. “We are of course still selling well within the UK, but our export market for British produce is growing.
“The decision to export higher volumes was taken in a bid to try and stabilise the UK market. When there is a surplus of product on the marketplace, as with last year when brassica sales dipped because of the heatwave, growers can really lose out; so we decided that we could actually export UK produce and therefore guarantee a price for producers, as well as secure year-round supply outlets for ourselves.
“I now look at export as a regular supply avenue rather than purely a security stopgap, and this will only continue into the future as further opportunities open up in Europe,” Davis adds.
DON’T BOIL IN THE BAG
When recent research by the University of Warwick revealed that boiling severely damages the anti-cancer properties of many brassicas, including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and green cabbage, packaging specialist Amcor was on hand to provide a ready answer for consumers.
While boiling has a serious impact on the retention of the vital anti-carcinogen glucosinolate, microwaving brassicas helps keep the goodness in. Amcor has developed a range of packaging, called Amcor SelfVent, ideal for microwaving or steaming a whole range of fresh produce, including brassicas, prepared vegetables, potatoes, legumes and also compote-style prepared fruit.
Amcor explains that SelfVent reduces cooking time by up to 30 per cent, increases vitamin C content by 13 per cent, saves time in the kitchen and is convenient for consumers. It ensures that brassicas maintain their nutritional qualities, and is available with Amcor P-Plus MAP technology to ensure optimum product shelf life.
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