Halloween would not be the same without a scary pumpkin on the windowsill and with October 31 falling on a Saturday this year, producers are hopeful that the anticipated rise in Halloween parties could translate into stronger pumpkin sales. The squash category has also enjoyed a lift in recent years and growers are excited about the forthcoming campaign.
The harvest of pumpkins and squash is well underway and unlike in the US, where many East Coast growers endured heavy rainfall in the growing season, UK producers have reported good growing conditions.
“It is an ordinary season,” says David Bowman of producer David Bowman Ltd. “Weather conditions have not been brilliant as we haven’t had a magnificent summer, but volumes are what I would expect from a reasonable year.”
It is early days, but Bowman says the quality of pumpkins is better than last season and he is feeling cautiously upbeat. The leading producer supplies most retailers and although many supermarkets are now stocking small volumes of culinary pumpkins, the big deliveries will begin around October 10.
Maidstone-based pumpkin producer Dan Mackelden Ltd has also enjoyed good growing conditions. “As a South East-based grower, we don’t tend to suffer too much from bad weather and we have not seen much rain this season,” says director Mark Thompson.
The producer finished harvesting at the beginning of October and began supplying supermarkets this week. “We have sufficient pumpkins to fulfil the same amount as last year’s orders and more,” Thompson says.
Dan Mackelden Ltd has grown pumpkins for eight to 10 years, steadily increasing the amount of land devoted to pumpkins to more than 80 acres. The firm will work with new wholesale market customers this year and has just received permission to put up a 30,000sqft building. “We are looking to improve our logistics and increase the speed with which we harvest and load pumpkins,” Thompson says.
Oakley Farms began harvesting pumpkins in late August and the Wisbech-based producer grows a wide selection of pumpkins, with sizes ranging from 500g to more than 10kg. The firm has increased its pumpkin acreage in recent years, following rising sales of both culinary and carving pumpkins.
Steve Whitworth, sales manager of Oakley Farms, says the season is on track and is progressing well. “Everything is looking as it should and we have had some nice, dry, autumn days,” he adds.
Barfoots of Botley anticipates an improvement in availability this season due to the conducive planting and growing conditions. “UK demand has continued to expand year on year and our objective is to ensure our customers’ pumpkin quality and availability expectations are exceeded,” says Barfoots’ representative Neil Warden.
CR Melton & Sons grows pumpkins mainly for its farm shop near King’s Lynn. The area around Wisbech in East Anglia is a major producer of pumpkins for Halloween. “The fields look like they are covered in large orange footballs and the pumpkin crop looks to be one of good size and quality,” says technical manager Ian Cole.
Harvest Moon is the most popular pumpkin variety and producers are looking for the next big variety, with higher yields, greater resilience and a better shelf life than Harvest Moon. Many producers are trialling new varieties this season and Warden says the selection process evolves around continually improving eating quality and appearance. However, Bowman says it will take four to five years before a new variety can really take hold. “We are on a constant quest to find new varieties, but it is important to see how they perform in lots of different conditions,” he tells FPJ. “There is no point in growing a new pumpkin in really good conditions one year and then seeing it fail in a colder climate the next.”
According to Bowman, a new novelty pumpkin that is orange on top and green on the bottom is stirring interest and he is hoping to trial it soon.
Tozer Seeds is busy working on a wide range of pumpkin sizes and crop specialist Jim Juby says the biggest focus is on the 3-5kg-sized pumpkins for the UK market. Although the UK is currently reliant on US programmes that produce bigger-sized fruit, Tozer is working on its own breeding programme.
As with previous seasons, the interest in pumpkins will peak during the Halloween fortnight. “The pumpkin season continues to go from strength to strength, with the Halloween festival growing in popularity and diversity every year,” Warden says. “We are continuously looking at new and exciting carving and painting kits and this allows customers to ‘bespookily’ create their own scary pumpkin.”
Pumpkins are also popular on Bonfire Night and with both holidays falling at the weekend, this could prove advantageous.
However, one producer who declined to be named says that the recession may impact on this season’s sales. “It could be that we see static demand; while consumers bought two pumpkins last year, this year, they might only buy one,” he says. “On the other hand, pumpkin is a fairly low-priced product and maybe parents will spend more on activities and treats for their kids at home, rather than going on holiday.”
Cole hopes that public interest will not be restricted to the Halloween period. “We want consumers to try various recipes for cooking pumpkin and squashes and hope they won’t just use them to carve scary faces,” he says. “Pumpkin and squash are very nutritious, flavoursome and versatile vegetables. There are lots of ways to eat them as they can be puréed for soups, roasted, microwaved or barbecued. It has been a Cinderella crop, but it’s showing its colours now.”
There needs to be more focus on culinary pumpkins and Thompson argues that if the sector can persuade consumers to take to pumpkins as they have to butternut squash, then sales will increase.
Events such as the Spalding Festival, which takes place on October 9, are also keeping pumpkins in the public eye. This will be the seventh year of the festival and, according to Bowman, the event is getting bigger every year, with people coming from further afield.
While the majority of pumpkins are sold domestically, Bowman has received several enquiries from overseas parties and hopes to export more pumpkins this year. “We supply customers in France, the Netherlands and Ireland, but it is difficult to say if pumpkin exports will continue to rise - you can never tell as demand is usually weather related,” he says. “One year volumes are up, the next they are down.”
Producers are also excited about opportunities for squash this season. Butternut squash is receiving more publicity, with many magazines and celebrity chefs promoting new recipes.
Barfoots introduced butternut and other squashes to the UK more than 20 years ago and has some “very exciting” high-sugar varieties in development. “Butternut squash demand within the UK continues to expand through the introduction of new varieties and improved eating qualities,” Warden says.
CR Melton & Sons has grown squash and pumpkins for the last three years and produces a wide range of varieties including butternut, Harlequin, Celebration, Munchkin and Sweet Lightning. “Growing conditions are much improved on the previous two seasons, when UK growers battled with the poor summer weather,” says Cole. “This season, the plants have established and grown well.”
Tolhurst Organic Produce is also optimistic about the season ahead. “The weather has been fantastic compared to 2008 and 2007, and we have had lots of sunshine and light,” says owner Iain Tolhurst.
According to Cole, butternut squash grows “reasonably well” in the UK, but it can be challenging to produce as the crop likes sunshine and warmer summers. “The other types of squash are less demanding in the growing conditions they require and crop better,” he adds.
Heat is needed to cure all squashes and once CR Melton & Sons starts harvesting the crop, it places them in well aerated polytunnels where they are exposed to higher air temperatures, which ensure they cure adequately to enable storage through the autumn and early winter. The producer grows squash on approximately 50 hectares of land and is looking to maintain its acreage. “Squash is still a relatively new crop for the UK,” Cole says. “Consumers have known butternut squash imports for years, but they are less familiar with other squashes such as the Acorn types, Harlequin and Celebration.”
Having grown squash for 16 years, Tolhurst Organic Produce is on course to produce between 8,000-10,000 squashes this season, weighing an average 1-3kg each. The firm produces some nine or 10 varieties, of which butternut is the most popular, followed by Black Futsu and Uchiku Kuri. Other varieties produced include Buttercup, Blue Ballet, Sweet Dumpling and Blue Kuri.
Some squash varieties are known for their long shelf life and Tolhurst says Futsu keeps very well and can be stored until May or June. Tolhurst Organic Produce has increased the area devoted to squash year on year and, over the last two years, yields have also risen.
“Generally, squash is a very reliable crop to grow and we have become better at growing it,” Tolhurst says. “We have only had two failures in the last 16 years and that was in 2007 and 2008 because of the poor weather.”
Cole says that more publicity and promotional work is needed to market squash and encourage consumers to try it. However, he is optimistic that UK-produced squash will find a receptive audience. “We find that once consumers try our squash, they are hooked and tend to come back for more,” he tells FPJ.
Furthermore, the recession has led to more home cooking, which has been beneficial to the category. “Consumers are looking for value for money and squash offers reasonably good value as there is little wastage,” says Juby.
Much work has been devoted to breeding butternut squash that can be grown in the north European climate in recent years. The hard work has paid off as commercially grown squashes can now be grown as far north as the Midlands.
Plantings normally begin in May and harvesting takes place around September. According to Juby, the vast majority of varieties produced in the UK are from Tozer Seeds. The firm’s most successful variety is Hunter. “This type meets retail specifications in terms of size and growability,” explains Juby, who is also optimistic about the opportunities for high-sugar squash, which has a brix level of 14-15, compared to a brix level of eight to nine for conventional squash. “High-sugar squash serves a maximum of two to three people and is a one-meal squash which, because of its size, lends itself very well to organic box schemes,” Juby explains. “It is very easy for customers to work with as it is easy to peel and cut.”
The shelf life is not as long as conventional product, but it can last for two to three months. Tozer says Celebration and Harlequin are two varieties that are doing very well, and popularity is growing.
Juby says the onion squash - so called for its shape - should also perform well in the marketplace. “This is a small product and has very good long-term storage,” he adds.
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