It is no secret that maincrop trade has been hit by the winter weather and even though movement was not restricted in the freezing conditions over the first few months of the year, prices stabilised across the board.
But now that spring has sprung, there is more material in store than there was at this time last year and as it is getting later and later in the season, growers are getting keener to empty their stores, putting pressure on prices.
At the same time, UK players are gearing up for the start of the new season and fingers are crossed that the predicted late start of the new crop will take the pressure off the maincrop offer and open up a bigger window through which to shift volumes.
“The best potatoes in all the stores, the best fryer, the best pre-pack, the best processing potato have got good prices, but there has been a shortage of high-quality potatoes on the processing side in particular,” says one insider. “This was because there was a lot of bruising that took place in the harvest last year and dry matter is quite high in some places. Waste, for sure, is higher than it was last year.
“There are a lot of growers with quality issues,” he continues. “Prices for value-pack potatoes are as low as £30-50 a tonne, [whereas] those with better potatoes are making as much as £80-100/t and best-quality Maris Piper is making £160-200/t, so returns really depend on quality.
“It has not been easy for growers, but it looks like the lateness of the new crop will help maincrop producers by extending the season and giving them the chance to clear more of the their stocks.”
Jersey Royals will kick off the season in mid-April, but the crop was hit by low temperatures and a night of frost in March, so supplies are expected to be two weeks late.
The UK is in a similar position, with the crop running 10-14 days later than usual as a result of the prolonged cold spell and low soil temperatures. This has held back potatoes planted a few weeks ago, but Cornish crops are expected to hit the market at the beginning of May.
Richard Clark, commercial director at Branston Ltd, admits that “it has been a very difficult season to keep the sellers happy”, even now. “Most attention has been on clearing the crop and maintaining sales,” he says. “Suppliers are aware that total crop production exceeded the market’s requirements and this has meant that free market prices are lower than the cost of production.
“Maris Piper quality has been dreadful, with high dry matter causing much bruising.But apart from this, we have seen very good quality all season, especially in the South West.
“All sales are increasingly being driven by promotional activity, especially when these are in an end-of-aisle position rather than in the fixture.
“Now we need to concentrate on clearing the current crop to avoid it affecting the start of the next season. It would be a great shame if this season’s crop dragged, resulting in a poor start for the 2010-11 season.”
Keith Pickles, senior buyer at Parripak, maintains that suppliers will need to maintain strong links with growers to take the sector forward into next season. “Prices are currently 10 per cent lower than last season on average,” he explains. “Growers will, on the whole, barely cover their production costs for the year.
“Last year’s growing conditions led to issues with bruising and high dry matter, particularly with our main variety, Maris Piper, which we have worked hard to resolve to minimise any detrimental effects to our finished products.
“The market is currently oversupplied, relatively slow and quality varies greatly around the country,” he continues. “For the new season, we know planting is already somewhat delayed, and therefore no one is predicting an early start to next season. However, because of current stock levels of last year’s crop, this should not affect the marketplace.”
The firm will start processing the UK new crop in early July.
However, the ups and downs have not stopped these well-known players from innovating and investing in their businesses.
Branston, for example, has continued to invest in green technologies and its anaerobic digestion plant, which is due to launch in the summer, is part of the company’s £2 million investment in environment-conscious technology. The firm has also upgraded its water management system, as well as introducing a range of other energy-saving initiatives.
“The investment is the latest in several projects undertaken as part of Branston’s environmental strategy, which has led to all sites being ISO 14001 accredited andthe company being the first UK food producer to receive the Carbon Trust Standard,” says Clark. “On top of this, we are constantly trying to find and develop new varieties that satisfy all the selection criteria. These range from early baker varieties such as Saphire to maincrop whites such as Lanorma, Safari, Electra and Nectar.For the new crop, we are developing Novella and of course, Juliette.
“We have had a very successful first season in crisping and are looking forward to growth in this sector.”
Parripak is working closely with its suppliers to develop and trial alternative varieties to improve flavour, consistency and yield, as well as striving to improve peeled yields in the factory and make efficiency gains wherever possible.
FENMARC PRODUCE REVIEWS SPUD PROGRESS AHEAD OF UK SEASON
The return of dry and warmer conditions has been welcomed by growers following a cold, wet winter, but there has been a slightly “stuttering” start to the planting season. Here, Fenmarc Produce Ltd homes in on the key producing regions ahead of the start of the UK season.
The very wet weather and low temperatures last month have meant that planting of the first early varieties started a little later than normal across Cornwall, Pembrokeshire and East Anglia. Despite this slight delay in planting, soil conditions have been ideal and with the recent warmer night and day temperatures, soil temperatures and conditions are improving, albeit slowly.
“It’s too early to say what the impact of this delay in planting will be on maturity, as it only takes some consistent warmer day and night temperatures for the situation to change rapidly, but we are comfortable with the progress made to date,” says Mark Taylor, agricultural director of Fenmarc Produce.
Regional reports
Cornwall saw some very early planting at the end of January and early February but as a result of a very wet and cold spell in February, the remainder of the planting was delayed until March.
Pembrokeshire planting started in March in good, dry conditions, with soil temperatures between 6-7°C. The recent rain and the warmer night and day temperatures are helping, with early crops expected to emerge in early April.
Across to East Anglia, planting started in early March on the Suffolk coast including varieties Maris Peer, Bambino, Elizabeth, Maris Piper and Charlotte. However, cold soil temperatures meant that growers have been careful not to push too far ahead with planting. Second early set skinned varieties, such as Marfona, have just started now that soil temperatures have increased.
But what next for the remainder of this season? “We have adequate stocks of both conventional and organic crops in coldstores for the remainder of the 2009-10 season, with some good-quality, late-stored material from Herefordshire, East Anglia and Lincolnshire still to be utilised for packing,” says Taylor. “We are particularly pleased with our stored Herefordshire material this year as it is some of the best quality we have seen for several years. We also have a number of crops from virgin potato soils from Yorkshire in store, all of which are keeping well with an expectation of good packouts when they go through the packing process.”
Variety development
Fenmarc’s sister company Agrimarc provides vertical integration through the supply chain, from varietal development and seed supply through to the production of commercial potato and vegetable crops, with more than 50 potato varieties being trialled this year on six sites across the country. “We dedicate a lot of time and resource to this trial programme across the different geographic sites, ensuring that we monitor the differences in skin finish, visual appearance, yield, quality and importantly taste, borne from the different soil types,” says Taylor. “Variety development and new products remain central to the business, providing the taste and appearance that meet customers’ expectations, bringing new and exciting ideas to the marketplace and enabling farmers to maintain saleable yield, improving agronomic characteristics of the varieties and developing market opportunities.
“The commercial development and expansion is driven by our in-house seed business, which takes the new variety material, manages volume growth and delivers the technical knowledge to bring them to market.”
Three successful varieties are Fenmarc’s exclusive potatoes Elizabeth, Rudolph and Belana. Each variety, at different stages of their life, has gone through rigorous testing and consumer panels before becoming commercially available.
Elizabeth is a salad potato that will return for its fifth year from the middle of July. Available for a short window, planting is well underway across Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire.
Rudolph is a red-skinned potato with contrasting white flesh, now in its third season. The variety is being grown in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire and Shropshire this year, with expansion plans for both seed and ware growing to maintain volume growth and market development.
The newest addition to the portfolio, Belana, for which Fenmarc has exclusive rights for UK production, will be available for the first time this year in commercial volumes. Planting has not started yet, with the variety preferring warmer soil temperatures than current conditions. The firm has trialled long-term storage of the crop and is “delighted” with the results.
Seeds of change
The seed industry could face some challenges this year, with a big change in demand for traditional varieties in favour of new varieties, across both the pre-pack and processing market.
“It’s a double-edged sword really, as while it is great to see a larger area growing some of the new varieties, it also requires careful management of the reproduction base,” says Taylor. “This will ensure there is the right balance of volume from the demise of one variety and the succession of another.”
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