Early indications for the 2008 UK cucumber season are certainly pointing in the right direction, with suppliers relatively confident they can recover from last year’s erratic production conditions and meet rising consumer demand.
“In 2007 we had very good weather in April, with sunny weather and temperatures up to 25oC,” says Brian Hibberd, managing director of salad specialist Abbey View Produce, based in the Lea Valley. “This led to a good start for the season, with elevated sales to match high production levels. However, the following months produced some rather poor weather, causing the season to be a little disappointing.”
However, although 2007 was a poor summer in terms of weather, demand was still good, says Steve Cornwell, sales and procurement director at SCSMB Produce Ltd, which incorporates British Fresh Growers Group. “Salads are now better focused in people’s diets, regardless of the weather,” he explains.
However, it is a case of so far so good for the 2008 season. Weather conditions in January and early February were poor, so generally crops started late - but good weather in mid-February until now has helped considerably, and crops are now looking good. Supply and demand are expected to be evenly matched.
Good light levels in February have already strengthened plants, increased early yield and improved the colour of early fruit.“Light levels have been favourable so far this new season, and this has reflected in crop quality - everything is well on course,” says Cornwell.
As ever, this year’s production will depend largely on light levels over the coming months. But even if conditions are as difficult as last year, some companies have boosted production for the 2008 season in order to meet increased demand. “We have increased our production by around five acres, bringing our total cucumber acreage to 80a - an approximate increase of seven per cent,” says Hibberd. “Wewill therefore be expecting higher volumes in 2008, on the whole.”
British Fresh Growers Group is in its fourth year of production, and expects quantities this year to satisfy customer demand. “Volumes will be around the same as last year, but we anticipate our yields to be up, with a higher percentage of Class 1, thanks to the expertise of our technical manager Cameron Langford, and our dedicated growers,” says Cornwell. “We will increase our business year on year with Class 1 product, and are looking to build and develop some more glass, but in a controlled way.”
British Fresh Growers Group is based in the UK’s main cucumber-growing area, the Lea Valley in Essex. “We are a very important growers’ group in our area, and with our expansion programme, we will market for several growers who grow under full crop management systems, biological controls and are full members of assured produce,” says Cornwell.
UK cue crops start to peak around early April and early May, on the first of three crop plantings. Promotions on cues will take place again this summer, and Cornwell believes these will help kickstart a purchasing trend and keep it going. However, he expects good summer weather in itself will keep punters coming back for more anyway.
But what of competition from other key supply sources over the coming months? The weather in Spain has been milder in January and February this year, keeping supply quantities above previous years, according to Hibberd. “MostSpanish cue growerswill be replantingover the next three weeks to put in their summer crops, such as melons,” he tells FPJ. “There will be some new cucumber crops but hopefully not more than last year, and with a little luck the low pound will keep them away from England.”
Cornwell believes cucumber supplies from Spain are slowing down rapidly, and with the rainfall in Almería, growers will experience problems in the near future, especially on quality.
Return-wise, growers are in some cases still struggling, and rising gas and oil prices are making life tricky. “Energy prices are always a threat and are our cross to bear, but we all have a responsibility to keep prices up and fair, in order to promote English produce,” says Cornwell.
Hibberd explains: “Unfortunately, due to the better weather and more plentiful supply of Spanish cucumbers, supermarket retails have rarely risen above 68p (often 99p from the end of December until March). These lower retail values have meant that early English growers have received a lower return on their early crops to date.”
Add to this a background of rising costs throughout the supply chain, says Hibberd, ranging from energy (heating), to transport, plant feed and shrink-wrap costs, and life is far from easy for growers.
Some have had to seek technological solutions to combat the energy cost issue. The Gibilaro brothers, Mike and Phil, who grow cucumbers at Villa Nursery for Abbey View Produce, have overcome rising energy prices and achieved early production with the help of their combined heat and power system (CHP). This produces electricity by burning gas, with the unwanted heat from the process being used to heat the nursery.
“To help support our producers, Abbey View pays a percentage of our growers’ costs towards biological control. Our target is to grow without pesticides, and this aids the growers’ ability to do so,” says Hibberd. “Abbey View also splits its growers into bothtwo and three crops - each group of growers spreads its replanting of each crop over a couple of weeks, meaning we avoid having too large an area missing from the crop at any one time. Also, we only have 100 per cent of the growers picking at the same time at two points during the year - in April and September. Demand is always best in the first full ‘heatwave’, so hopefully we will have a good April and an Indian summer in September.”
In terms of consumer demand, cucumber portions are rising in importance, due to an increase in smaller households. Whole cucumber demand represents 65 per cent of the market, while portions represent 35 per cent.
“Cucumber portions have their own place in the market and perform very well, especially for the likes of couples in a household,” says Cornwell. “With cucumber portions, they can pay for what they use, compared to a larger family, which needs the whole cue.”
British Fresh supplies major supermarkets and the catering sector, and is also very active in the wholesale market business, which still forms an important part of the company’s marketing strategy, according to Cornwell.
The main British Fresh cue variety this year will be Aviance, which produces a very consistent medium-sized cucumber and a higher percentage of good Class 1 fruit, according to Cornwell. “We also trial different varieties every year, and this is monitored by Cameron,” he adds.
Year-round volumes of British cucumbers are still a distinct possibility, thanks to plenty of R&D work being carried out in the sector. “With the demands of the business, it is important we work closely with growers to help control the technical side as well as the commercial side,” Cornwell adds. “Our technical team works in good harmony to keep up to date with the ongoing changes in our industry. We will carry out some trials again this coming year with some selected growers, on producing under lights in the autumn and winter. This could create a 12-month supply of English cucumbers.”
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