The 19th century Corn Laws and their ultimate demise in 1846 marked one of the most turbulent periods in British agricultural history, as prices of cereals were kept artificially high by placing tariffs on imports. Today, British sweetcorn growers can feel pleased that soaring demand requires no such laws to drive UK production.
Sweetcorn is undergoing its own golden period as production keeps expanding to meet rising demand. Many of us remember sweetcorn as a rather slimy offering from tins, but thanks to changing tastes and the eating out trend, with Nando’s grilled cob cited as a key driver, fresh sweetcorn is booming.
Julian Marks, managing director of Barfoots UK, says: “Sales of fresh sweetcorn have continued to build on the strong performance of recent years. Warm weather in May, June and July has driven consumer demand. Volume sales at week 26 were up significantly year on year. Our estimate for 2018 is that we will surpass our 2017 total volumes by 12 per cent by the end of the year.”
Marks says this growth is also creating innovation, with more versatile forms boosting value. “Historical sales show that sweetcorn twinpacks and then cobettes have been the dominant formats. Recent product launches earlier this year have introduced Sweetcorn Bites to shoppers and these are proving very popular.”
Summer is a key period for sweetcorn, but this year it has been bittersweet, driving consumer demand, but also demanding more from farmers. “2018 has thrown a lot at the crop,” says Marks. “The start of the year from January to March was very wet. The cold snap and heavy snow in late February, early March was followed by record warm temperatures in May and very dry conditions in late June, early July.
“As a result, drilling in cold, wet ground was challenging. The change to very dry conditions in such a short space of time meant that the plants struggled to establish a strong root structure. A comprehensive programme of irrigation has been vital to ensure the survival of the crop under these conditions.”
Marks says demand has again peaked at levels “not seen before” and Barfoots drew heavily on their overseas farms in Senegal to meet customer needs. Britain also has a strong supply chain with Hungary, whose sweetcorn exports to the UK have grown six per cent in the past four years, with the Rush Group the main suppliers.
With such growth, organic sweetcorn has naturally received greater demand too. Mike Shapland’s James Fosket Farms grows organic product at its Suffolk farm. He says the current hot spell has made irrigation a challenge but the crop’s American origins make it well adapted for a British heatwave. “Sweetcorn has got a different type of metabolism so it’s good at surviving heat, although everything is a struggle with irrigation at the moment,” Shapland says.
He adds that like other crops, labour shortages are in the back of their minds. “The sweetcorn is hand picked, we normally have 60 seasonal workers and we have them ready to go this season, so labour is not an issue at the moment, but that all depends on the future. With Brexit, it obviously could be a threat to our business.”
But for now, sweetcorn remains an open pasture, with Barfoots investing in its supply chain, and experimenting with over 1,000 varieties a year. Marks tips multi-coloured varieties to become more popular going forward. “Bi-coloured corn (white and yellow) has already been trialled on a small scale with some customers. Different colours and either more intense or new flavours may also be possible in the near future.
