Regular readers of FPJ have long been aware of the challenges facing the UK tomato industry. Low prices, growing competition and a decline in acreage devoted to production have dogged the sector, but as anyone knows, fortune favours the brave, and some of the bravest can be found in glasshouses across the land.
Recent investments by a number of tomato growers, including John Baarda’s new high-tech glasshouse in Billingham (FPJ March 3) and Fresh Link’s Eric Wall Limited have led to renewed optimism in the industry.
Observers believe that despite the higher fuel costs, which will have significant implications for the sector this season (and probably in 2007 too), there is still room for hope as early samples have generated a sound response. Growers are keeping their fingers crossed that these cheers will grow ever louder as the industry prepares for British Tomato Week in May.
“British crops are looking very good,” says Gerry Hayman, chairman of British Tomato Growers’ Association (TGA). “Growing them in heated glasshouses, as we do, provides the best control possible, protection against adverse weather conditions and gives very reliable supplies as a result, both in terms of volume and fruit quality.”
“Product quality is very good and our customers are very eager to take the fruit we are producing,” confirms Mark Arnold of Wight Salads Group. “Demand in general is strong and we are in the frustrating position of just not having enough British fruit at the moment.”
However, it is not all plain sailing as both Arnold and English Village Salads (EVS) tell FPJ that some pretty poor light levels and cold days have resulted in later start dates for most crops.
“Those that have started are yielding lower at the moment - ultimately this all means less sales for our British fruit compared to the same time last year,” Arnold says.
TGA estimates that this year’s crop is expected to rise to 70,000 tonnes this year, from 65,000 tonnes of tomatoes in 2005.
Paul Faulkner, marketing director at Sainsbury’s supplier, Freshlink Marketing, believes it is premature to talk about the 2006 season at great length. However, new season samples have been very well received. “It’s very early to talk about conventional tomatoes, volumes will bulk up in the next few months,” Faulkner reported in mid-March.
“It’s always very difficult to try and predict the season and how it’s going to pan out. 2003 was a classic example. Prices were very low initially and growers were all doom and gloom but it ended up as being one of the best.”
However, Faulkner concedes that prices need to be better this year because of the higher fuel costs.
“We need to have a better year and, like the cucumber business, we all have a responsibility to fight for better prices to absorb the higher energy costs or our industry will hit a damaging recession,” says Steve Cornwell, sales and procurement director of ScSMB Produce, which markets tomatoes for the British Fresh Growers Group (BFGG).
“If people want English produce and want to support their own growers, customers and consumers need to be aware of the situation,” he says.
Despite the later start, BFGG will handle more volumes this year and has recently added new growers to its group.
According to Arnold, the retail price of tomatoes in real terms has fallen over the past three years. Imported supplies from Spain in particular, as well as Poland and North Africa, have had a dramatic effect on the market.
“The lower energy and labour costs that they have mean they can produce tomatoes for less and export them to the UK,” he says.
Arnold notes that tomato prices are currently lower than last year due to good availability of imported tomatoes during the winter and, to some extent, the effects of the supermarkets’ pricing war.
However, he says it is also important to take into account last season’s high prices, following poor winter weather and availability issues in southern Europe.
Hayman believes the greatest economic pressure the industry has faced in recent years has been that of inadequate returns to producers. “This has resulted in sustained pressure from imports and the exercise of growing retailer power and competition,” he says.
“It is interesting that those suppliers who achieved the best returns in 2005, which should have been a reasonable year for prices, were in some cases smaller scale producers supplying local markets or those supplying premium outlets, such as restaurants, through the London wholesale markets.”
Returns are likely to be affected by higher fuel costs this season. “Energy prices are a major concern and they are higher in the UK than for our competitors at present, which tilts the playing-field against us yet again,” Hayman says. “The energy situation does provide opportunities for us in the longer term, however.”
He believes that the use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology, biogas generation from waste products to fuel energy plants, and tapping into surplus energy from industrial processes will bring rewards.
“Rising costs of energy during the winter (our cost of gas for example is now twice as much as it was two years ago and 70 per cent higher than last year), has meant we have had to work hard to keep energy costs as low as possible,” Arnold notes.
Wight Salads, which supplied Marks & Spencer with the first UK cherry tomatoes of the season in early February, sold 24,000 tonnes of tomatoes last year, of which just over half were British tomatoes from its own nurseries. “We are budgeting to sell 29,000 tonnes this year and, again, around half of these will be British tomatoes from both our own nurseries and those of the British growers we work with,” Arnold reveals.
The firm’s growing area has increased by 25 per cent over the past two years and it is confident it will continue to grow at similar levels.
“Our grower base this year will be the largest ever for Wight Salads with British tomatoes being produced for us on the Isle of Wight, in Sussex, Kent, Essex and in Yorkshire,” Arnold says. “We have begun new partnerships with tomato growers to meet the growing demand for our British tomatoes and this will mean more availability on supermarket shelves from March to October.”
The firm’s British production concentrates on speciality varieties such as vine ripened and baby plum tomatoes.
Having a popular, high-quality product inevitably makes selling a whole lot easier and UK tomato marketers are confident that they have something to shout about.
“British tomatoes stand for freshness and are associated with great taste,” Faulkner says. “They have a certain quality cachet and for these reasons rather than nationalistic pride, it’s very important to push British attributes.”
Wight Salads Group partly attributes its growth to strong consumer demand for British tomatoes.
“Our British tomatoes are usually on the supermarket shelf within 48 hours from being picked and this is at least 48 hours before imported tomatoes,” Arnold says. “Imported tomatoes are often picked with less colour to allow the extra two or three days transit time through Europe. Our British tomatoes are always picked at their optimum ripeness which means that they are always at the peak of their flavour, giving the consumer the best possible taste.”
Against a backdrop of rising production and strong consumer demand for home-grown produce, producers are throwing their weight behind British Tomato Week (BTW).
The event, now in its third year, will run from May 15-21 and the sector is aiming for support from all the major retailers.
Asda, through EVS, is planning in-store tastings and promotions, and will run a competition through schools aimed at educating 7-11 year olds about tomatoes.
Asda and EVS launched BTW last year at Asda’s head office in Leeds. “BTW is a great way to start the UK season, although I do think that the date is a little too early to ensure that retailers are well stocked with British varieties,” says Kelly Colrein, EVS marketing manager. “It also needs more commitment from the retailers in terms of in-store presence. It doesn’t matter how you spend on PR for this event, if the message is not communicated in-store then the benefits of extra sales will not be realised.”
TGA members will once again be opening their nursery doors for school visits. “This provides children with the chance to see how a tomato plant grows and how our growers look after the plants,” Arnold says.
“Children are really keen to learn and especially love the tomato tasting afterwards - what amazed me the most last year was seeing the kids empty the plates of Baby Plum tomatoes we had for them and leave behind a big pile of chocolate biscuits!”
Other activities include sending tomato samples to food and health writers in the week prior to BTW and conducting a number of radio interviews in mid-May.
To mark BTW, chef Polly Tyrer will create a new tomato recipe and demonstrate it at John Lewis’s flagship store in London’s Oxford Street. She’ll also be preparing other recipes from TGA’s Simply Tomatoes cookbook.
Furthermore, TGA will be exhibiting at the BBC Good Food Summer Festival from May 18-21 at the NEC Birmingham. “This looks like being a major event for us and we are working on some new PR ideas,” Hayman says. “BTW has achieved considerable coverage in the media and the number of hits to both the TGA main website www.britishtomatoes.co.uk and our educational website www.thetomatozone.co.uk have shown big increases after the events and sustained growth overall.”
British tomato promotions will continue throughout the summer and TGA plans to end the season on a high. “For the first time we will be taking part in the National Fruit Show on October 19 with a Tastiest Tomato Competition,” Hayman says.
Like others in the UK tomato industry, Faulkner believes that BTW is an important event. “In the two years it’s run, BTW has achieved a good response and two of its biggest supporters are Sainsbury’s and Asda,” he notes, adding that Sainsbury’s is buying more British tomatoes than ever before.
And what of future developments? Arnold believes the organic market certainly provides significant opportunities.
Wight Salads claims to be the UK’s largest producer of organic tomatoes and organics will account for around 20 per cent of this year’s crop.
“Our growers, Alan Parker and Piers Verey, saw the trend towards organics a long time ago and invested in converting crops to organics to give us a head start,” Arnold says.
“We need to deliver a value for money product that reinforces the strengths of the organic market. We also need to focus on the basics - to grow the best varieties that produce the best eating tomatoes and encourage the consumer to keep coming back, plus invite the new organic consumer into the market.”
Avoidance and elimination of pesticide use is a primary target of British growers, according to Hayman, who adds that there is an ongoing reduction each year.
Typical spend by British growers on pesticides is just over 3p per square metre a year, one tenth of the sum spent on ‘natural enemies’ for biocontrol and bumble bees for crop pollination. The most common material used by growers is sulphur for control of powdery mildew, which is also approved on organic crops.
Driven by consumer demand, supermarket production protocols and the declining range of chemical pesticides at their disposal, Biological Crop Protection (BCP) has worked with UK tomato growers to develop solutions to combat pests including whitefly, spider mite, leaf miner and mealybug.
“Many UK growers are so adept at using predators, parasites and physical pesticides that they are growing insecticide free,” says Simon Jones, BCP’s UK sales manager. “By careful manipulation of the growing environment many have minimised, or even eliminated, fungicide use, growing their crops pesticide free.”
Released on to the crop, the tiny predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis has become the primary tool against spider mite. More recently, contact pesticides, such as the non-sticky Eradicoat T, are playing a key role quickly redressing the balance should a pest hot-spot develop in a crop.
Although marketers are excited about on-going developments, no-one’s expecting an easy ride this season. However, producers believe they need to be there for the long haul.
“All in all it will be an interesting and demanding season but we are all positive and hopefully it will be a good summer with good weather conditions and strong demand,” Cornwell says.
According to Faulkner, smart growers take a long term view of where they’re going to be. “It’s a balancing act for growers who manage their own businesses but investment is needed to go forward,” he says.
“Although 2005 and 2006 could be challenging due to higher fuel prices and the knock on effect they’ll have on the haulage and packaging sector, growers need to take a long term approach to sustain the industry.”
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