Plagued by a decline in both value and volume sales, this has not been an easy year for the stonefruit sector.
A value drop of 3.6 per cent is not welcome news to the industry, with the figures explained by lower pricing, especially for nectarines and plums, according to Kantar.
Western International Market trader William Hill, owner of WT Hill & Sons, imports stonefruit mainly from Italy, France and Spain. He says the quality of his apricots, peaches, flat peaches, plums and nectarines has been good, but admits that across the continent returns have been an issue. “Spain is a bit wobbly because of the banks. In fact, all of Europe is, so they’re not getting as much money as they want for their fruit. It’s 20 per cent down from a year ago.”
Recent cold and rainy spells haven’t helped matters either. “The bad weather affects the demand for stonefruit. We serve a lot of shops and stalls, and people just don’t walk around the streets in the rain.”
Another trader at Western International, Bob Webster of HG Walker, says cherries came in early this season, with the first Spanish and Turkish crops arriving in May. Webster says at the moment it’s “a decent trade”. The biggest problem with stonefruit, he explains, is if crops get hail damaged. “I haven’t seen any evidence of that so far, but we’re only a third of the way through the season.”
Poor weather has put a spanner in the works for English plums, as they are all unprotected. However, damage done by the poor weather during blossom is very variable. “Crops are anything from 15 per cent of a full crop to 70 per cent. In fact, the natural thinning should help fruit size - nice 40mm plums should be the norm,” according to a spokesperson for English Plums.
“The Opal crop looks good, although they are delayed by at least 10 days. [Consumers can] expect sufficient supply of Victoria,” adds Duncan Forbes of English Plums.
One promising development is the ever-increasing UK cherry production, all under cover giving good yields, reliable cropping and good-tasting large, succulent fruit.
As for British cherries, new plantings are now taking place in, and away from, the traditional south-east England heartland of cherry production. There is new production being planted on later sites in the Midlands, Welsh borders, and even Scotland. “This will mean the UK will become increasingly self-sufficient during its own season, extending it from early June to mid-September, making it one of the longest cherry seasons in the world,” observes Nick Marston, managing director of Berry Gardens.
Already, home-grown cherries have seen consumption levels increase in the last few years, with nearly double the amount consumed in 2011 than 2010, according to Jon Clark of British Cherries. “There is a clear trend that consumers are prepared to spend the money if the product delivers good value with a quality fruit and exceptional taste. The change to new cherry varieties for the UK, like Regina & Kordia, ensures growers are in line with this change in trends.”
The industry organisation feels retailers will respond to this trend by increasing store space.
In terms of current price levels and promotions, historically British cherries have attracted a premium but in the last few years good yields have enabled the fruit to retail at the same level as imports. “British cherries will see huge growth going forward, from as early as 2013, as many new orchards planted in the last few years start to bear full crops of fruit. We would see this leading to an increase in consumption rather than just a direct replacement for imported fruit.”
Yet there is no denying that yields will be lower this year. The organisation predicts that the yield of UK cherries under tunnels will be around 10 per cent lower than last year due to poor pollination, and unprotected crops will be reduced too. “However due to the increasing area coming into production the total UK crop will probably be similar to 2011.” -
DAMAGE CONTROL
Following media reports of wiped-out British stonefruit crops, the industry’s PR drive to promote the availability of British stonefruit couldn’t have been better timed, reports Lisa Kjellsson
They say all publicity is good publicity, but not everyone agrees. When the media reported that the unusually wet and windy weather had ruined British stonefruit crops, the industry felt that a few news reports caused more damage than the bad weather ever could.
Fortunately, a PR campaign was already planned, centred around the message that British cherries and English plums are readily available this summer. “We are keen to communicate that despite the weather challenges, there will be a decent volume of UK stonefruit available; it has not been wiped out as some of the media are reporting having spoken to isolated growers,” explains Katherine Clarke of Sputnik Communications.
For the British cherries campaign the PR firm has created eight illustrated recipes and images that have already made their way into the food and lifestyle sections of newspapers, glossy magazines and online media, promoting the seasonality and health benefits of British cherries.
“We have already secured coverage in Great British Food, Cook Vegetarian, Hello, Good To Know Recipes, Prima and The Culinary Guide, and expect more as peak season approaches in mid-July,” says Clarke. “We will also shortly be launching the British cherry season to the national news and broadcast media, and the start of the English plum season to the national news media.”
The latter will focus on the history, varieties and health benefits of the iconic British fruit, and both campaigns are entirely industry-funded. Following the success of a smaller campaign for British Cherries last year, Berry Gardens, Total Cherry and Norton Folgate confirmed funding to continue and expand promotional activity for 2012. “Last year we delivered £500,000 worth of PR coverage for British cherries,” says Clarke. “The campaign aims to increase consumer awareness and appreciation of UK stonefruit via editorial coverage in news and lifestyle media, to drive consumer demand in-store.” -
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