UK carrot producers are preparing to put the past two difficult seasons behind them and get back on track. With recent forecasts pointing to a normal start date, the sector has been heartened by the rise in carrot consumption and the recent sunny weather.
“Weather conditions have been favourable for the new season to start on time,” says Simon Trewin, Huntapac’s sales director. “Providing good conditions continue, there will be sufficient volumes for demand.”
Martin Evans, managing director of Freshgro and chairman of the British Carrot Growers’ Association (BCGA), is cautiously optimistic about the new season. “It has been a normal winter and the sunshine in early June will help produce good-quality carrots,” he tells FPJ. “If the season starts on time, this will also help the quality.”
The season is progressing well, but the windy, dry weather has meant that growers have used more irrigation than initially expected and this has added extra costs.
But there is good potential this season, says Guy Poskitt, managing director of MH Poskitt Ltd. However, he is well aware that there is still a long way to go. “The last two seasons started off well, but ended up being a wash out so we’ll have to see,” Poskitt says.
MH Poskitt delivered its first, new-season baby carrots to Asda in late May. The carrots were grown in Yorkshire and delivered to Asda’s store only five miles away in Glasshoughton.
Meanwhile, bunched carrot producer Bromham Growers Ltd began harvesting overwintered carrots on April 27, followed by spring-sown carrots on May 13. Ross Paget, the Wiltshire-based firm’s marketing director, initially thought the cold winter would have a negative impact on carrots but, fortunately, it had the opposite effect. In late May, he reported strong demand for early bunched carrots and excellent quality. “The foliage on the carrots has been the best it has ever been; it is looking very fresh and green,” he tells FPJ.
This year, Bromham Growers will be involved in the From My Farm initiative, which will be rolled out to 21 Morrisons stores in the West Country. Under the initiative, shoppers in the region are given the opportunity to sample a seasonal range of locally grown and packaged fruit and vegetables.
As part of the initiative, Bromham Growers will act as the hub for producers from around the region including those in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset to bring in their produce for packing, labelling and distribution.
Paget says that local provenance remains important to consumers. “People like to see local product in local stores,” he says. However, he also points out that, as Bromham Growers is a specialist producer and one of the few growing bunched carrots in the UK, it is able to sell its produce nationwide to both retailers and wholesalers.
Producers agree that it is vital to promote new-season carrots, build strong growth and maintain good quality throughout the campaign. “Everyone is becoming more aware that we need to try to make more of new-season products and carrots are no exception,” Trewin says. “In the past, it has been hard to flag up new-season carrots apart from putting a sticker on packs. Consumers tend to forget about the new season after a few months.”
However, a couple of retailers are looking to bring the new season to the forefront.
Catriona Mowbray, group marketing manager of Produce World - parent firm of Isleham Fresh Produce - and chair of the British Carrots PR committee, says a key opportunity for the sector is to promote the health, taste, versatility and good value of carrots.
As chair of the PR committee, Mowbray’s main area of responsibility is to promote British carrots in a positive light and ensure that the body assists in driving the consumption of carrots.
Mustard Communications is heading up this year’s PR campaign and the summer will be a major focus for activities this year. “So many consumers think of carrots as a winter vegetable and yet new-season carrots really are the cream of the crop with a distinctive sweet, aromatic flavour and tender skin,” Mowbray tells FPJ. “Carrots are so tender, in fact, that we harvest them in the middle of the night so they are not damaged by the sun’s rays and we are developing this as a story for the media.”
New summer recipes and photographs have been created to tempt consumer tastebuds, including carrot and beetroot salad, tarragon baked chicken with carrots and grilled mackerel with a carrot and cucumber salad.
Other events include an invitation to children from a school in Norfolk to help with the first harvest of the season and nutritionist Juliette Kellow has also been drafted in to boost the campaign. She has developed a summer healthy eating plan that promotes the slimming properties of carrots. And the BCGA’s website - www.britishcarrots.co.uk - has been relaunched with a new layout.
In recent years, there has been growing interest in non-conventional carrots, such as Chantenay and bunched carrots. Producers are hoping that this will be the case this season.
Freshgro has enjoyed significant success with its Chantenay and has extended sales to Europe, including Belgium, Germany and even France. Evans says that the firm has seen interest from as far afield as Australia and hopes to find “very good growers” to work with there.
However, while Freshgro is forecasting conservative growth this season, he says marketing conditions are different now compared to a year ago. “The market is no longer about aspirational buying and, with the recession, many consumers are now turning to the basic ranges,” Evans tells FPJ. “There are a lot of mixed messages out there. Will convenience and quality win out or will consumers move to more basic cooking?”
According to Mowbray, consumers will continue to be price sensitive, but other factors, such as provenance, do influence shopping behaviour. “Carrots are very versatile and affordable compared with many other exotic and expensive vegetables, so in times of a recession, one of the nation’s favourite vegetables should continue to thrive,” she explains.
It is too early to say whether the UK carrot sector will be affected by the recession.
According to Paget, carrot prices have risen in recent years but these hikes have been necessary to sustain the sector. Although nitrogen costs have fallen, potash still remains the same price as its peak in 2008. Similarly, even though fuel costs have fallen recently, it will take a year before growers benefit from the lower costs as many producers have opted for contracted fuel prices.
Despite higher prices, carrot consumption has increased by six per cent, but the sector is well aware of the potential hurdles it could face.
“Price could still be a challenge this season,” says Trewin. “Last year was poor in terms of returns and without good returns, growers are unable to invest in their operations.”
There has been an improvement in recent months, but producers are still mindful of what is around the corner and Mowbray predicts that there could be a fall out of some growers if margins continue to be tight.
Meanwhile, other challenges facing the sector include Sclerotinia. This has become more widespread and troublesome in carrots, causing rotting of roots and foliage, as well as decreasing yield and quality. “Sclerotinia is a major issue for UK carrot producers and although land selection and varieties can help, it is weather related,” Mowbray explains. “Isleham Fresh Produce is tackling this issue by geographical spread of land.”
BASF vegetable consultant Howard Hinds says most growers have now adopted an integrated approach to controlling Sclerotinia by introducing ways of reducing disease pressure, as well as timing chemical control more accurately.
BASF also sponsors a Sclerotinia monitoring system that helps carrot growers assess disease risk, predicts when to apply their first fungicide treatments and therefore enables them to plan an effective control programme.
Bromham Growers says it has not really had a problem with Sclerotinia, as it usually affects maincrop carrots that have been in the ground for longer. However, last year the grower was affected by the yellow fleck virus, which was caused by aphids and hit its crop last July. “The foliage on some of our carrots turned yellow and we have never seen this before so we will be keeping an eye out for that this season,” Paget tells FPJ.
There is also ongoing concern over the EU’s move towards tighter rules on pesticide usage. “Initially, when the EU regulations were first mooted, the industry was shocked by the speed it happened,” Evans says. “At first, we thought we would have very rapid legislation put in place. However, we now anticipate a dumbing down of the original intention and we may see a careful piece of legislation that offers environmental protection and maybe even better protection in the EU.”
Paget believes that even if the EU did ban certain herbicides and fungicides, it is not time to panic. “No one is going to want the British carrot industry to be wiped out and chemical companies will be working on alternatives if linuron, pendimethalin and ioxynil are deregulated,” he says. “The problem will have to be addressed.”
For now, growers are concentrating on the season ahead and many are hopeful despite the ongoing concerns.
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