The availability of salad products over the last three months has been plagued by a run of bad weather in Spain, coupled with low demand. But when the clocks turned forward last weekend, so the salad sector perked up, with the hope of light, sunny evenings on their way, promising more salad consumption opportunities.
Lettuce fared particularly badly in the last quarter, with some Spanish wholeheads coming down in weight considerably, causing costing problems for suppliers, which were basically selling double the product for the same price. Bad weather throughout Spain’s main producing regions meant that February, in particular, saw lollo rosso shrink from a healthy 450g head to 180g in some parts. And iceberg lettuce seemed to disappear altogether, as a severe shortage took hold of the market. Insiders have had to contact new country sources such as Turkey, which incurred numerous associated costs.
But now good weather and warm nights have turned Spain’s production around and the Spanish outdoor lettuce crop is being described as “fantastic” once more. Insiders can now breathe a sigh of relief as fuller and more robust lettuces make their way to the UK, and they are predicting that this time of plenty will last until the summer months.
The tomato situation was also strained and one insider tells FPJ that prices were “all over the place” in February and March. Once again, weather was the culprit, and Moroccan produce was affected by the weather, with the country either being too hot or cold for the tomatoes to grow, resulting in product breaking down quickly because of its water content. However, a good season from the Canary Islands - which is now drawing to a close - saved the day for both tomatoes and cucumbers.
And further cause for celebration has been created by the good start to the UK cucumber season, providing a stark contrast to last year’s circumstances. From a grower’s point of view, returns have been up and have reduced to slightly more than average for this time of year, meaning they can begin to reinvest in the industry, as well as keep their heads above water. So far, light levels have vastly improved on last year and have really helped production in terms of both quality and size.
The high prices of single cucumbers seen in supermarkets since Christmas have been reduced by the addition of UK product on the market and prices now stand at around 70p, compared to the £1 mark that proved a little too dear for some consumers. Demand has been healthy. “Once the price has been brought down even a small amount, people will feel better for paying that new price,” says one cucumber grower. “It has been a very reasonable season and hopefully the summer will bring further good returns to growers, so we can sustain this industry for the future.”
In this case, the lack of Spanish product has been beneficial and ensured a smooth start to the UK cucumber season. Nevertheless, Dutch cucumbers are available and, according to UK insiders, the only negative of the season is that there is a slight surplus on the market. But there are hopes that this problem will soon be ironed out when spring officially starts.
“All sizeable cucumber growers are in full production now and will be planning their second plantings for the end of April, so there is a lot of produce on the market,” explains one grower. “But when the clocks change it naturally feels more summery. Spring really hits you. People have more time and light in the evening, which stimulates salad demand.”
The pepper offer is still being sourced from Spain in the main, with the addition of good-quality Israeli product. Cold weather affected the pepper production in Spain this quarter and insiders say that, although the Spanish peppers sold in supermarkets are fine in eating quality, the season is coming to an end. The sector is also unsure when it comes to Israeli product, as weather conditions can be changeable in the country around spring. “Israeli peppers are of a reasonably good quality now, but temperatures in Israel can jump from 25°C to 45°C for three to four days with little warning in April,” reveals one insider. “They are not as good as three months ago because they are coming from older plants, but at the moment we are very happy with the product - although it may change quickly.”
English green peppers are already on the market in very small volumes, and reds and yellows are set for harvest in the next two weeks, but it will be around a month before major volumes are available. The addition of the Rainbow Growers Group’s pepper plantation in new greenhouse development Thanet Earth is said to add 15 per cent to the UK pepper season’s volumes this year, so there should be more English peppers available in supermarkets - increasing the retailers’ current 50 per cent home-grown pepper offer considerably.
General demand for salad products has increased since January and the industry has not experienced the downturn in orders predicted by recession scaremongers.
“Demand has been really healthy and we have bucked the trend,” says one supplier. “With people expected not to eat out as much and cutting back on the luxuries, we thought sales would be down, but they are not. Orders have shifted around though. We are dealing with as much as 14 per cent fewer orders from caterers and restaurants, but more to supermarkets and wholesalers, so it has evened out. We are also dealing with companies further afield to our usual customer base and people have come to us looking for certain things.
“It has been an interesting quarter, characterised by changeable weather and it has been very difficult to keep contracts going, but it is now looking up.”
WSG CELEBRATES WINNING FORMULA
Winning the Organic Grower of the Year is a great achievement and it is wonderful to be recognised by industry experts as excelling within our peer group, writes Ian Reed, technical director at speciality and organic tomato grower Wight Salads Group (WSG).
WSG won the coveted Grower of the Year Awards 2009 - Organic Grower of the Year and was a finalist in the Salads Grower of the Year category, and this has given a real boost to all who continue to work so tirelessly within WSG, especially after such a challenging year.
There has been a tremendous amount of investment within WSG over the last couple of years, which cements our commitment to organic production for the future. We decided to enter the category because we are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our growers, whose efforts over the last 14 years have made organic production such a commercial success.
We hope all of our customers will continue to recognise the hard work, commitment and dedication that exists within WSG. We believe that significant investment and demonstrable long-term commitment to organic and speciality production will ensure that we continue to consistently grow the best-flavoured tomatoes year round.
With our own quality glasshouses in Portugal and Spain, we have managed to maintain our high quality throughout the winter, but volumes out of southern Europe have been suppressed due to low light and cold conditions. Availability out of that area has been challenging.
The original owners of WSG first started growing tomatoes in Arreton Valley on the Isle of Wight more than 20 years ago. WSG’s first trials of organic tomato production took place in 1997 with less than half a hectare of production. At that time, no one else had attempted this kind of production on that scale. Currently, WSG operates 50ha of long-season intensive tomato production, both in the UK and Spain, as well as Portugal. In 2008, 35 per cent of production was organic - approx 17ha with 12 different varieties from eight families of tomato. We are the largest producers of long-season intensive organic tomatoes in Europe and supply all major UK supermarkets.
WSG holds Soil Association accreditation. We first collaborated with the group in 1997 at the start of our organic development programme. WSG was a leader in the early days of developing the organic intensive horticultural standards. We have a dedicated 2,500sqm organic trial house, where every year we trial more than 50 different varieties of tomato. We record all agronomic details and also use an external taste panel to ensure only the very best go into commercial production. In 2008 and 2009, we launched three new commercial organic tomatoes in three different families - cherry, baby plum and cocktail. We also launched our organic Heirloom pack. This was developed out of our activities at the Totally Tomato Show, where members of the public tasted and voted for the best-tasting Heirloom tomatoes.
At WSG, we believe that even in difficult economic times we need to invest for the future. In 2008, we constructed a 7.2ha single roof, 6.5m-high gutter organic glasshouse, on a greensand site at our production unit in Portugal - ready for the start of the 2009 season. This glasshouse, divided into six compartments of 1.2ha, has all the most modern growing aids for organic crop production. We are growing seven different organic tomatoes here, ranging from cherries to large vine, and harvesting started in December 2008.
We are also currently involved with long-term HDC research projects, involving nutrition and biological control, as well as ongoing projects on alternative sources of energy and the reduction of our carbon footprint.
We can produce the best-tasting organic tomatoes consistently throughout the year. But big does not mean easy: with larger scale organic production comes potentially more problems. It is a real science and requires a huge amount of skill to ensure that, week in, week out, we can supply the best. Our investment clearly demonstrates this dedication and commitment to the future.
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