Anyone who is anybody in the vegetable industry knows that it is not big news that UK cauliflower production and demand have been steadily declining over the last decade, and that they have had to stand by and witness more fashionable brassicas take the iconic British vegetable’s limelight.
As with any products, cauliflower has been squeezed on price by supermarkets and made to compete with more attractively priced imports and even UK broccoli, throughout the near enough year-round season.
This is the penalty that both the industry and consumers pay for choice, but while industry insiders have been aware of this since the multiples became superpowers in the 1980s, it seems that the general public and the national media are only just cottoning on.
Since the Brassica Growers’ Association (BGA) strategically announced that UK cauliflower production has fallen by around 35 per cent in a decade - down from 195,000 tonnes in 1997 to 120,000t in 2007 - as part of its new campaign two weeks ago, the dailies have had a field day. The campaign has taken on a life of its own, with headlines like “Broccoli V Cauliflower - It’s War” and bold statements such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s in The Guardian: “Move over broccoli, the cauliflower revival is on its way.”
And if the credit crunch - that some may say Britain has managed to talk its way into - is anything to go by, cauliflower growers could be in for a revival indeed.
As well as Fearnley-Whittingstall hailing cauliflower as the next big thing and claiming that he has “always known that there was more to be had from cauliflower”, TV chef heavyweight Gordon Ramsay has been pushing out revamped cauliflower cheese and soup recipes with the best of them, and chef Tom Aikens is lending his support to the BGA’s ‘Save the Cauliflower’ campaign.
“TV chefs, more than any campaigns or promotions, do wonders for fresh produce,” says one insider. “We know that because demand shoots up for anything that is used or mentioned by a popular chef on a programme immediately afterwards and then it stays like that for maybe two to three weeks. Even then, sales levels always remain high and never return to their original level.”
But can depleted UK cauliflower stock handle any kind of surge in demand just yet? According to insiders, after poor growing weather and low price points, the sector will be hard pushed to cope. Of course, this brings us back to a reliance on imported crop. French growers may also be inadvertent benefactors of this campaign.
All the media attention seems to be glossing over the real reasons for the decline in home-grown cauliflower production and, if there were a sudden surge in demand, how it would leave the grower in the field. It is true that the product has been axed off a good deal of shopping lists over the years and that cauliflower does not have the following that it used to, but what the hype misses out on is the effect of the lack of seasonal labour and continuing price pressure from the multiples.
For some time, supermarkets have been forcing growers to source cauliflower below cost, with some producers losing serious money week after week. Supermarkets are trying to keep a lid on the price, with growers getting less than the traditional market price for their product, says one supplier.
“Growers are sick of being caught up in deals that deliver no advantage to them,” he says. “But it’s swings and roundabouts; they do not mind when the spot price is high, but that is less of an occurrence now. Returns are down and so is yield because of the weather, and the price of top-ups to make up the orders is usually more money to buy in than the price of the contract.
“Growers are sick of the cauliflower job and have gone for more predictable, and therefore profitable, crops.”
Cauliflower production is very labour-intensive and has been hit hard by overseas workers going back to their own countries because of the value of sterling. This has particularly affected small- to medium-sized growers, who need only a few workers rather than a large number.
Due to price pressure over the years and the very nature of the crop, growers have found it easier to convert their production to more profitable products such as wheat, sugar beet or biofuel.
Whether it is a surge in demand or a steady increase that manifests itself, it is certain that sales of cauliflower will rise in the following quarter as a result of the media attention.
Hopefully, it will be just what cauliflower growers in this country need to kick-start the sector back into growth. But what happens when UK broccoli comes back on stream? Will the average consumer be informed enough to realise that it is now okay to make the switch from cauliflower, as long as it is British?
The broccoli crop, home-grown or otherwise, did not come out well in the latest media surge and Italian agricultural officials have also been splashed all over the news this quarter for responding to the BGA’s plea to buy British cauliflower, even though Italian broccoli only makes up approximately five per cent of the broccoli brought into the UK. As the country of origin, Italian sources were quoted as saying that the BGA campaign is “protectionism” and “an offence to consumers”.
Phillip Effingham, chairman of the BGA, has been at the centre of the debate and tells FPJ that the broccoli backlash was totally unintentional. He does not believe that the campaign will hurt broccoli sales.
“We wanted to promote cauliflower as a year-round UK product and feel it has taken the backseat compared to ‘superfood’ broccoli,” he explains. “Broccoli is a strong product and we are not going to affect its popularity overnight. Our intention is purely to stop further decline of cauliflower production in this country.”
But Effingham admits that information has been misconstrued in the papers. The Sun claimed that most of the broccoli in the UK in the winter is from Spain’s polytunnels, with no mention of the UK season, sending a biased message out to already changeable consumers. “The Sun got it totally wrong. To my knowledge, there are no broccoli crops under tunnels in Europe,” adds Effingham.
Will UK broccoli now suffer the same fate as cauliflower at the hands of fickle consumers who consider broccoli to be the villain of the piece, whatever its origin? At a time when British produce is being pushed forward for economical reasons, it is a dangerous time to blur the boundaries.
But despite the inadvertent fall-out in the media, the BGA has achieved its goal and received the much-needed attention that home-grown cauliflowers were missing. However, some feel that the damage may already be done.
“[The BGA] had to do something as cauliflower sales have been in a downward trend for many years, and they are no longer the must-have items that they used to be,” says one insider. “It is a valid idea and will hopefully bring cauliflowers to the forefront of consumers’ minds, but I do think that if it had been done five years ago there may have been a more positive, permanent impact.
“It is good to stir up interest, but we may be shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.”
ASPARAGUS GOES FOR HOMELY FEEL
This year, our campaign is focusing on helping consumers to recreate restaurant-style food at home, says Sian Pickard, joint chair of the Asparagus Growers’ Association (AGA) for 2009.
We are all very aware that money is increasingly tight, so our new collection of recipes encourages people to treat themselves at home rather than spending money eating out. We have teamed up with a variety of partners, including English wine producers, top British sommeliers and expert beer tasters, to help people choose the ideal drink to complement their asparagus dish, just as they would in a restaurant.
One of the contributors to the 2009 asparagus season campaign, S&A Davies, grew a small amount of asparagus in glasshouses this year, which enabled it to supply a limited amount to Tesco Evesham in time for Valentine’s Day. By growing the asparagus in greenhouses with underground hot water pipes, the company was able to bring the crowns into harvest several weeks before field production. The main season starts around St George’s Day on April 23, when asparagus will become widely available for around eight weeks until late June.
The wet and dull weather of July and August 2008 affected the fern production and therefore the capabilities of the crowns. This, in turn, means that predictions for production volumes are below average and we will not know the full impact of this until the main season in May. This year, we are seeing an increase in producing acres, which will mean there is more product available in the market. And due to the cold weather over the winter, we are expecting a good flush of kit at the beginning of the season, which will be fantastic quality.
Volumes are slightly higher than last year due to better fern production in July/August, despite the wet weather. The same period in 2007 was even wetter, meaning 2008 volumes were significantly affected, so we anticipate higher volumes this year. In addition, there are more acres in production this season.
The key issue with last year’s production was the flooding in 2007, which impacted the crop in two ways, meaning both poor fern production and Fusarium in the crowns. Last summer’s weather was not fantastic, but still slightly better than 2007, so we are expecting slightly better yields. However, individual crown production will be below average.
The AGA was formed in December 1978, with four asparagus growers meeting to discuss marketing and technical issues. Since then, the AGA has developed into a professionally run association with 130 grower members. It now has worldwide contacts and continues to be involved in many developments with R&D projects, marketing and PR campaigns. It also plays the role of an effective political lobbying group at EU, DEFRA and national government levels.
Naturally, growers are concerned about the credit crunch and the impact it might have on their crop. However, the big trend for dining in and restaurant-style food at home will hopefully put asparagus in a better position than other categories.
Fortunately, there is still a huge hype around British asparagus and demand still far exceeds availability. However, we cannot rest on our laurels and must ensure that we maintain a strong marketing campaign and continuous innovation in this category to survive the credit crunch.
Asparagus is a long-term investment - once planted, the crowns will not come into full production for three years. However, if it is properly looked after then it can keep producing a decent crop up to and beyond eight years, which therefore impacts the availability of product.
One of the key challenges for British asparagus is the management of labour. With harvesting volumes varying day to day and the cost of labour ever increasing, growers are starting to look to New Zealand, the US and Germany for machinery to automate the harvest of their crops. However, the reality of British asparagus being harvested by machinery is at least 10 years away.
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