Change is in the air for the baby vegetable sector, and that change is not necessarily for the better. Trends such as buy local or British combined with the slowdown in the economic climate in the UK have been working against the normally buoyant baby vegetable category.
Couple that with last year’s far from ideal weather for the mini vegetables and you create a bleak picture for both growers and suppliers that have come to rely on the once fashionable plate filler.
In the last five years, baby vegetable lines have proved popular with the foodservice industry, as well as high-end retailers, and have come to signify a point of difference and luxury for caterers and restaurants. But the very factor that brought the category high levels of demand has worked against it as consumers start to look for added value rather than visual appeal.
So far this year, demand for baby products such as leeks, fennel, turnips, beetroot, asparagus, squash and Savoy cabbage is on the decline. And the main reason seems to be that most baby products are sourced from outside of the UK, usually via airfreight.
David Ibbotson, director of produce at fresh produce supplier Pauleys Fresh Produce, which sources baby aubergines, carrots, corn, fennel, leeks, turnips, cauliflower, courgettes and beetroot, reveals that the company’s baby vegetable offer has remained fixed due to the lack of consumer demand for the category to be extended.
“We have not seen the popularity of baby vegetables grow at all in the last year,” he says. “Baby vegetables are traditionally used more heavily by the fine dining end of the foodservice industry, but what we are seeing across the board is that our customers are demanding more seasonal, quality products that have strong provenance. The field to fork issue is of growing importance to consumers, so the story behind the product is of increasing interest and significance to the restaurant industry.”
Pauleys has felt pressure from its customers in the foodservice arena to source British produce whenever it can but, according to Ibbotson, that is not always possible when procuring baby vegetables, as the product is often at its best grown in hotter climates, particularly baby corn and aubergines.
“We buy British produce wherever we can, but some of our baby vegetables are sourced from South Africa for instance to ensure top quality,” says Ibbotson. “We have recently extended our range of Red Tractor-certified produce to include more than 100 products, and now offer our customers bunched baby beetroot and Chantenay carrots when in season.”
Even though Pauleys offers its customers a wide choice of baby vegetable varieties, only a very small amount of its customers buy the product. Issues with its imports’ quality or consistency this season have been at a minimum, and so Pauleys has put the lull down to consumer demand for provenance.
And when you consider that baby veg growers in Kenya and South Africa are facing similar issues as British producers, such as the rising price of fuel, a continual lack of demand is an unwelcome addition to the mix.
“I think we will continue to see the sector decline as demand for provenance, British produce and seasonality continues,” says Ibbotson. “Baby vegetables were once quite popular because of their aesthetic appeal in fine dining establishments, but chefs are now demanding best in season to satisfy consumer demand.”
The exception to the rule seems to be British baby vegetables. The revitalisation of traditional baby carrot variety Chantenay has been very successful and continues to catch retailer and consumer attention, despite the credit crunch.
In 1999, a total of 10 farmers formed a co-operative called Freshgro, which stretches from Penzance to Yorkshire and is headed up by managing director Martin Evans. As well as regular carrots, the co-operative lifts Chantenay carrots 52 weeks of the year, and will be re-introducing a version of a traditional variety of baby parsnip to Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range this November. “Sales are growing, but the summer of 2007 affected yield, so we have not made the process we should have,” he says. “We are stabilising at around 10-12 per cent of total British carrot sales. In the last 12 months, we have had to go steady with promoting the product, which has actually worked in our favour as it has created more of a demand. Sales would have been massive if we had had the stock.”
With provenance on its side, Freshgro is on the positive side of the sector’s fence. And baby carrots seem to be the one product holding their own, remaining a best seller to both foodservice providers and retailers. One of the reasons for baby carrots’ continued popularity is that the product is firmly established on both consumer minds and retailers’ shelves, whereas baby versions of aubergines, courgettes and cabbages are still relatively niche lines.
Evans believes that Chantenay carrots have the upper hand compared to overseas baby product because Freshgro does not follow “tape-measure specifications”. He adds: “Supermarkets tend to want to change natural products such as Chantenay into sterile types of products. We are all about breeding and selecting the flavour of the vegetable. Tape-measure specifications are low on our list of priorities. Our main question is: does it taste nice?
“It is our tenth year of production and it has been a wonderful achievement. People are coming round to prioritising taste above measurements.”
Freshgro hopes to see the same reaction from multiples and consumers to its new baby parsnip line, which has taken 10 years to develop. “We have developed the baby parsnip using the same model as the Chantenay carrot, and its success has shaped the baby parsnip journey.
“The variety is an old golden type. In the past, people have been obsessed with white parsnips, but we have concentrated on making the vegetable taste as it should.”
Exotics and baby vegetable specialist JT Produce has been supplying both foodservice businesses and retailers with baby products for more than 10 years, and says that, although demand is down - especially in the winter months - the sector is steady due to its reliance on core lines such as baby carrots and leeks. Such lines are bought by a total 50 per cent of the company’s customers and are mainly sourced from within Britain. “We supply carrots more or less year round and we are in the middle of our English season at the moment, which generally runs from May to October,” says Kevin Prentice, exotics manager at JT Produce. “Otherwise, we source carrots from South Africa and France during and out of the English season. The popularity of baby vegetables tends to decrease in the summer months, with lighter lettuce products gaining popularity. We will be able to determine whether this is a lull or just part of the normal sales pattern during Easter. The demand is still constant, even though it may not be increasing.”
Prentice has noticed that baby aubergines, which were becoming more popular with JT Produce’s catering and restaurant customers, have slowed down in popularity. “The baby vegetable offer has been built up out of the restaurant trade and now retailers also take a small amount of baby veg in. Obviously, certain types perform better than others, and sales of Chantenay carrots are picking up every season.
“The credit crunch has affected everyone in the fresh produce industry, but the restaurants are still ordering baby vegetables. We will have to see if anything changes when restaurants start to review their menus.”
JT Produce also sources baby fennel, turnips, golden and red beetroot, Savoy cabbage, red cabbage and squash mainly from South Africa and Kenya, with increasing amounts coming in from Ethiopia.
“The quality coming in from overseas has not been bad, although we have had some samples of baby veg from Ethiopia which have not had the sparkle that the South African and British produce can have,” admits Prentice. “But it has done well and you just have to let people know that the shelf life may not be a long as other products. It is all about experimentation with relatively new products such as baby veg.
“We have had some issues with baby beetroot from South Africa as growers had problems germinating the seeds eight weeks ago when weather conditions were poor, and we have had small amounts of French beetroot in, but it has been too hot in the south of France for production.”
Prentice believes that the main problem with supplying baby vegetables is the inconsistency of the weather, even though he sources product from various locations throughout the world. “We suffer when there are problems with the crops because of hail or contrary weather conditions,” he says. “They are more hiccups than problems, but we are affected more by diverse weather conditions than any buy-local trend or the credit crunch.”
For baby vegetable growers nearer home, the situation is not so dire. Dutch company the Rainbow Growers Group (RGG) is finally breaking the UK market with mini products - cucumbers, sweet peppers and baby tomatoes. Previous attempts at getting its product on the multiple’s shelves had failed to make an impact because the packaging was too specific, but the last 12 months has seen Vitamini’s making their mark. The growers’ group produces the vegetables on 12,500sqm and increased its offer of mini peppers by 50 per cent this year, with the new offer of orange, red and yellow to complement its original green pepper offer.
“Because of the continuous trends of healthy eating and convenience, as well as media attention, generally the popularity of baby vegetables has grown,” says Ingrid Plomp, communication manager at RGG. “Next to that, we have developed our packaging. For any consuming market, suppliers offer a suitable package. RGG for instance has its Vitamini hand size bag, but also shakers and different size of flow packed shells with Vitamini’s label or private label.
“Both caterers and retailers are enthusiastic about baby vegetables. They want to offer their customers a wide range of different types of fresh produce. The difference is in the packaging; while the caterers only prefer the mini-size handy snack bag, the supermarkets are divided. Some of them prefer a ‘family’ package like a 300g or 500g flow-packed shell, others ask for a special package focused on children.”
And the good news continues, compared to the last 12 months, RGG’s production of snack cucumbers went from 100,000kg to 150,000kg in 2008, and total area of production is 12,500sqm, with an increase of 5,000sqm in 2008, with expansion on the cards for 2009.
But with baby veg classed as a luxury item both in restaurants and within the home, any new products coming onto the market will have to be worth the premium. RGG has found that business has been affected by a downturn in the British economy. “There has been a small rise in sales comparing to last year, but last year we only offered our snack vegetables in a Vitamini’s mini size handy bag,” says Plomp. “This year, we have added also other packing options, like shakers and different kinds of shells. Compared to last year, baby vegetables are being offered by more suppliers, so the competition has grown.”
Freshgro has also realised that value has to be added if its baby vegetables are to stay ahead of the game. In order to break into other parts of the marketplace, the co-operative has created the Chantenay cut, which is a method of preparing the carrots for foodservice businesses, and there are also plans in place to market a snack packet of Chantenay carrots for both adults and children.
Nevertheless, the weather has also been a problem for RGG. The weather in the Netherlands has been very unstable, which has resulted in a disruptive production. “The production has been uneven, because of the variable weather this summer,” says Plomp. “But overall, we are satisfied and until now we have been able to deliver a good-quality product. Fortunately, we have been able to supply our regular customers; unfortunately there have been periods of shortage for day orders.
But Plomp believes that baby product growers have more to cope with than producers of regular vegetables. “Snack cucumbers have a lower crop per square metre, than regular cucumbers,” she says. “Baby vegetables need a specialised way of cultivation, for instance snack cucumbers are very light sensitive; therefore it is not possible to grow snack cucumbers under artificial light.”
Prentice echoes this, saying that there are many more baby vegetables that can be grown in the UK than currently are. “Growers have got to be dedicated and it means a lot more work for British growers as it is very labour intensive,” he reveals. “Obviously, the size of the produce matters and mostly it is a case of careful monitoring of what stage the vegetables are in the ground - they can’t just leave the crop until harvest time as the crop may become too big for baby veg specifications.”
So the future, although not altogether bleak, looks like it will be plagued with difficulties for the coming year. But as consumers and industry weather the credit crunch, domestic and overseas growers and suppliers alike continue to push the sector against the odds.
Plomp admits that the weakening of the pound has definitely a negative influence on Vitamini sales to the UK. “The baby vegetable market will remain a niche market,” she says. “The production costs per square metre are higher compared to regular vegetables. It depends on consumers, if they want to pay a comparably higher price.”
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