From Devon to Cornwall, you will arguably find the best conditions for most vegetable products, with light levels proving some of the highest in the country, and its mild winters and summers offering producers a certain amount of security.
But the course of horticulture never runs smoothly and lately, climatic issues have been affecting the region’s usually resilient industry. After one of the worst winters in 30 years, in Cornwall especially, growers are recuperating from a consistently cold period, which saw product - namely cauliflower - freeze in the fields, and returns plummet. Growers are now hoping that this sporadic weather will prove to be just that, and that their seasonal point of difference will stay intact in the future.
It is not only the climate that makes this horticultural hub so successful; it is the producers’ and fresh produce businesses’ determination and ability to adapt that pushes the region forward and is helping it on its way to becoming sustainable. The days of growing field after field of cauliflowers and expecting to receive a healthy demand are gone, and growers have realised that they have to deliver what the end user wants to achieve sustainable profits.
Growers have been diversifying into value-added and more niche products to satisfy both local and national demand, through growing items from asparagus to purple sprouting broccoli, from organic vegetables to freshly prepared products.
The local trend has been instrumental in revitalising the fresh produce industry in the region and has brought new businesses into the sector, with unusual products for the UK and the area, such as chillies, now generating interest for their local credentials.
REGIONAL SUPPORT FOR FRESH PRODUCE BUSINESSES AND SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SIZED PRODUCERS
Regional food group Taste of the West’s ceo John Sheaves talks FPJ through the issues facing the South West, how the promotional body is evolving and why local sourcing has lit up the region.
Taste of the West evolved out of local county co-operatives, including Taste of Somerset and Taste of Devon, which had come to the end of their funding, as is always the case. So the decision was made 18 years ago, with the support of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), to form a group on a regional scale. The group was set up by a body of producers, aided by the NFU and the ministry of agriculture - then known as MAFF - in 1991.
We have since built up a brand, also called Taste of the West, have an awards scheme and work with food businesses on promotional activities through PR and marketing.
We work with our strategic partner South West Food & Drink on the Exeter Festival, which will take place in April.
The Rural Development Agency (RDA) funds South West Food & Drink, whereas funding for Taste of the West comes solely from its members, commercial ventures and the brand. In 2001, when John Prescott set up the RDA, it was decided that the agency was going to support South West Food & Drink, instead of Taste of the West. And so the majority of public money has gone to that group, although Taste of the West has received its fair share of funding in the past. We now work together with South West Food & Drink; the group is very promotion-focused, whereas we are more delivery orientated, although we are very aware that it can get confusing for both consumers and the trade.
Out of the eight main regional food groups in the UK, we are the most independent. We have a really strong membership compared to others, with more than 800 members, and that drives us towards being an autonomous organisation.
What we are and our capacity changes constantly. Due to our lack of public funding and our strong membership, we tend to act more like a co-operative now. We are much faster to focus on our members’ needs for marketing, advice, etc. Our awards programme - where products are assessed on their quality and integrity - PR and marketing campaigns, and festivals like the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink are at the very essence of what we do.
A problem with the fresh produce industry in this area, and in the UK in general, is that consumers are held at a distance. Of course, we have 5 A DAY nationally and I am interested by the new local scheme, Growfair, set up by Bristol Fruit Sales, but it was Sir Don Curry, while he was the government’s adviser on food and farming policy, who said that the farming community needs to connect with consumers. Horticulture has probably lagged behind the dairy and meat sectors in this matter. Consumers still need to understand what goes on in the fields.
The industry has declined in the area but small independent suppliers and retailers are on the increase - growers that supply farm shops and small box schemes, for example. Businesses like Riverford Organic Vegetables are really going up the supply chain and they are supplying good-quality products.
The South West does have a problem with logistics and routes to market, so Taste of the West set up a distribution hub on the edge of Exeter to improve small to medium businesses’ connections outside the region. The facility was set up three years ago and it has been a case of trial and error, as it is not easy dealing with fresh produce with a short shelf life while trying to give the shop the maximum amount of time to sell it. But now we have perfected the system and serve retailers such as Budgens and other small supermarkets, as well as more than 1,500 foodservice companies. The hub, which distributes all kinds of fresh food, deals with 400 product lines from 50 different producers in the region. All the companies supplying the food are linked by strong principles and see rebranding as the way forward.
Nine out of 10 good growers are not naturally business-minded, nor do they know how to market their product. We are offering a one-stop shop to the customer and a huge service to growers. Everyone is in the fast lane now and, although they want to know where their food comes from and are concerned with provenance, they also want convenience. We have got to offer them the full package.
EXETER FESTIVAL TO PUSH SEASONAL PRODUCE INTO LIMELIGHT IN APRIL
This year’s Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink will run from 9-11 April and is set to create an even more dynamic atmosphere than it has ever done before.
Now in its seventh year, the festival, organised by South West Food & Drink in conjunction with Taste of the West, has a new website - www.exeterfoodanddrinkfestival.co.uk - which is a mix of breaking news, details of the top chefs and celebrities taking part and the activities planned for visitors of all ages.
Sunday will be dedicated to families looking for a fun weekend during the Easter school holidays. Sunday, 11 April, will feature a host of hands-on activities for children.
The Celebrity Cookery Theatre continues to be one of the greatest attractions and this year, more chefs than ever before have applied to be part of it. MasterChef winners Mat Follas, James Nathan and Steve Groves (MasterChef: The Professionals 2009 winner) will be among more than 20 chefs joining Michael Caines MBE and a selection of celebrities to wow the crowds.
Many of these chefs will also be part of the Festival After Dark events, making a welcome return on the Friday and Saturday evenings, where a mix of food, drink, live music and BBC MasterChef winners will provide foodie entertainment.
SOUTH WEST FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT
Only seven years old, South Devon Chilli Farm began life as a part-time project by non-farmers Jason Nickel and Steve Waters, who decided they wanted to turn their hobbies into a commercial enterprise. Located in two sites in Loddiswell, South Devon Chilli Farm now produces fresh chillies for local farm shops, retailers and caterers, as well as added-value chilli products for its farm shop and high-profile restaurant chains like London’s Wahaca.
From a total of nine polytunnels and a propagation facility, South Devon Chilli Farm trials several different types of chillies each year and can deliver fresh chillies 24 hours after picking. Nickel believes that the company started out at just the right time to take advantage of the local sourcing trend. “To start with, there was a lot of interest from farmers’ markets and that’s where our initial customer base was formed,” says Nickel. “But over the years, farmers’ markets have declined slightly in this area and farm shops have taken over the trade. And South Devon Chilli Farm has extended from serving just the local area to sending product all over the West Country, and we have added strings to our bow, like producing chilli chocolate. We now grow 35 different chillies commercially and we are always looking for another type to add to our selection.”
Nickel maintains that the climate in Devon is perfect for producing chillies and the company manages to grow product from April to November. “There are no late frosts here and it is very warm along the South Coast,” he adds. “Chillies are very dependent on heat and some years we have been able to keep on growing them in the polytunnels until just before Christmas.”
In fact, the business is going so well that partners Nickel and Waters have decided to extend their facilities and build a cafe that will serve chilli-orientated meals and drinks. Planning permission has been obtained and, funding permitting, the South Devon Chilli Farm should have its own cafe up and running this summer.
GROWFAIR BRAND ENCOURAGES CORNISH DIVERSITY
“We are finding that those growers who produce two to three crops for the supermarkets and are maybe not receiving the right kind of returns are looking to try different crops for us, in an aim to spread the risk,” says Growfair brand manager Dave Pearson. “Potato growers that have been working to big contracts have been let down this year and rather than renting out their land for other uses, as growers have done in the past, they are reconnecting with it and growing different crops for local consumption.”
The brand Growfair - Pride of Cornwall is the brainchild of Bristol Fruit Sales’ Bodmin depot manager Martin Baldry and was launched in 2007, with a team of seven growers and 10 lines that specialised in good-quality, Class I, locally sourced product that cut out unnecessary national and international haulage costs. Today, the scheme now collects from 25 growers and covers 35 lines, including butternut squash, baby leaf salads, blueberries, chard and purple sprouting broccoli, as well as traditional Cornish fare such as cauliflower, spring greens and new potatoes.
The Bodmin depot has seen sales in local produce double each year and its imports into the county have declined proportionally. The scheme aims to fix programmes with growers and customers in terms of both price and volume, with the hope of enabling customers and suppliers to become more profitable.
“Cornwall has a good name for vegetables in particular,” continues Pearson, “and we have got a good reputation across the UK. Our new potatoes are only days behind - if not at the same time - as Jersey Royals and Cornish growers believe they are better. We have a good brand behind us and when customers see the black and green branding of the Growfair range, people know they are getting a premium.
“Feedback has been great and everyone is happy. It is a decent product and customers are generally happy to pay more. This is our third winter with the brand and sales have leapt up; people know what to expect now.”
Pearson believes that the local trend is the only way the fresh produce industry in the region is going to revitalise itself. “We have managed to add a surprising number of products to our portfolio, including Cornish chillies and next year, sweet potatoes. And all this would never have happened if it wasn’t for the publicity of the brand. One of our suppliers, John and Jenny Keeler, are extremely enthusiastic and at the moment, what we can offer them [when the season comes around] is better than the supermarkets - it is a step towards sustainability. Growers are confident in the brand and in turn, we are confident in the growers. We cannot offer the volume business a supermarket can, as it is more of a drip-by-drip motion, but it is more sustainable. It is also more environment-friendly, as we are backhauling all over the county.”
ORGANIC NICHE MOVES TO MAINSTREAM
The South West holds more organic growers than anywhere else in the UK, so it’s little wonder that the Watson family’s 24-year-old enterprise, Riverford Organic Vegetables at Riverford Farm, has done so well in Devon’s rural haven, Wash Bam.
Starting off with a small local box scheme and a couple of organic crops, in addition to the then conventional offer at Riverford Farm, owner Guy Watson’s concept Riverford Organic Vegetables now co-ordinates an organic growers’ co-operative in Devon that accounts for 400 acres of land and 40 per cent of the produce sold by Riverford Organic Vegetables. The remainder comes from Riverford Farm, its UK farms and overseas.
The company, which owns five farms in total, now delivers 25,000 boxes of vegetables to the South West area - including Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire - and the South East.
According to the company’s Darran McLane, Riverford Organic Vegetables is now diversifying into the foodservice arena. The company has seen its on-site venture, the Riverford Field Kitchen, go from strength to strength since it opened five years ago and this year has seen the company start a new scheme called Riverford Cooks, where chefs from across the UK will be invited to come to the cafe to discover how to use seasonal organic fruit and vegetables in their restaurants.
“Guy has maintained for a long time that it is important that consumers know where their food comes from, but he also believes that people need to know what to do with it in the kitchen,” says McLane. “Flavour is king here, but culturally in the UK we are not great cooks. With Riverford Cooks, we aim to get 100 chefs using our vegetable boxes this year through promotion. We have 30 at the moment, but we have laid down the gauntlet. We are organising a workshop at the farm and will go from there.”
McLane admits that there has been a dip in organic fresh produce sales in general across the category, but believes that Riverford has held its own and can provide a real point of difference. “There are more than 500 organic producers in the South West, so it obviously lends itself well to the system,” he says. “The South East is a very foodie-oriented part of the country, especially as it is near to London, but in the South West consumers have more of a link with the land. It is a very productive part of the country and we are blessed with a good climate and extended seasons. We are very useful in the hungry gap in May/early June, where most have to import.
“In 2004, we could hardly keep up with demand, but then 2006 hit and we also saw a typical growth pattern of increased sales and then a curve when others follow your formula. It is now time to do something different and add excitement to the category all over again.”
GOING UP IN THE WORLD
Devon-based vegetable grower JE Wakely & Sons has found climatic changes in the area so hard to deal with that it is reorganising its harvesting schedule and investing in a new carrot storage facility.
Third generation of the family Ed Wakely runs the business with brother Nick and says that staying in the vegetable game is a constant learning curve. “We grow 25 acres of carrots and have done for the last six years, since we decided to add to the product range, which mostly consisted of potatoes, for local retailers, caterers, farm shops and wholesalers,” says Ed. “We do not have the sandy soils that they have on the coastline, but we do not need to irrigate, which makes production far more cost-effective and we will beat them on taste every time. However, we do have problems with harvesting conditions at this time of year. Wet land makes the machinery very slow and a lot of money is wasted on labour that is just waiting around doing nothing.”
The company’s solution is to re-evaluate its planting programme, harvest in better conditions before Christmas and store carrots for gradual sale. “We are having a complete change this year,” he explains. “We will harvest in October and put the carrots into a new coldstore facility that we will build on our farm site. We have looked into using straw, but the cost of having a coldstore works out more sustainably. The facility will also be flexible, as we will also be able to store potatoes in there.”
JE Wakely & Sons also has 100a of potatoes, 5a of parsnips, 12a of onions and 5a of red, golden and candy beetroot. “Offering the local market a good variety is where we do well,” says Ed. “We don’t really make money sending produce out of Devon. We have worked with large supermarkets in the past, but volume and appearance has always won over taste. That’s not what we are about.”
SEF ADDS NEW PRODUCTS
Major supermarket supplier Southern England Farms (SEF) has seen a long winter this season, but has battled through to see another day, says Alasdair MacLennan, the vegetable grower and pre-packer’s technical director.
Traditionally, our maritime and mild climate should be frost-free and provides a better horticultural situation compared with the rest of the UK, but this year was different.
SEF is the country’s largest cauliflower producer and prides itself in specialising in one of Cornwall’s best-known exports, as well as spring greens. We have invested heavily in this industry, with a new 44,000sqm packhouse in 2007, and this investment meant that we had to make the business viable 12 months of the year, so we diversified into growing broccoli, pointed cabbage, courgettes and marrows in the summer.
The number of growers in this area has declined over the last five years and now there are only a handful left. We now source from five or six local growers, but 95 per cent of the produce we supply is grown by us. This did not used to be the case, but as growers have fallen by the wayside we have had to take on more of a grower role and, as a result, the business has been totally turned around.
January and February 2009 were terrible and temperatures of -10°C and -11°C wiped out the crops. This winter has not been quite as cold, but it has been consistently cold, which has caused more problems, including frozen crop, and it has been difficult to meet availability expectations. Retail prices are up, so demand has been affected and French product has had to be imported, at extra cost.
We are having a good deal of success with locally branded Cornish vegetables in the large supermarkets and it is surprising to see the uplift in sales. This trend will continue to grow, but we will still have logistical challenges. We will always be up against the cost of the route to market in this region and traditionally, we make more money in the winter than in the summer.
We are looking to increase our production of different kinds of crops to take advantage of the buy-local trend. I think the production of cauliflower and traditional crops will decline further in this area, but there is still huge potential in Cornwall. It has a good, strong brand and its reputation precedes it.
POTFRESH CELEBRATES TWO DECADES IN THE BUSINESS BY OPENING A NEW FACILITY IN WILTSHIRE
Cornwall has provided a great base for our vegetable preparation business for the last two decades, but we are nowlooking to service demand for prepared outside the county, says Potfresh general manager David Bickerton, who has been with the wholesale and foodservice provider for 10 years. We will open a second production facility in Wiltshire before the end of May and thiswill double our production capacity overnight.
A family-run business, Potfresh was set up to supply the foodservice industry. Like a lot of firms within the region, it relies heavily onseasonal tourism. We experience logistical disadvantages by being located in Cornwall, which can make some product lines seem uncompetitive at certain times of the year. For this reason, we are looking forward to the opening of our new site and relish the fresh challenge of working in a new area of the country.
A benefit of being located in Cornwall, however, is the ease of local sourcing and the number of fresh products you can tap into. Prepared Cornish swede, for example, is a big product and there is an ethos of making sure you buy locally among Cornish consumers. Our business really fits in with this as we source from the grower, prepare and deliver to the customer, all within 24 hours.
We mainly serve bakeries and ready-meal factories withcore lines such as diced onions, prepared swede and prepared potatoes, but we also wholesale and promote Cornish produce to other outlets nationwide.
The last 12 months within the industry have been difficult to say the least, with a number of high-profile prep companies going out of business. Potfresh has still managed to withstand this tough economic climate and is well equipped to look at and assess new opportunities to move forward. We are in the process of establishing better links with growers worldwide and we are looking to source a number of products from the southern hemisphere over the comingmonths to offer year-round, direct supply.
Catering and wholesale companies seem to besuffering in the South West; everyone is simply looking for sales, rather than focusing on profitable business. We want to sustain our business for future generations and strive to offer our customers competitive, yet realistic and workable prices. When the recession kicked in, businesses panicked and took work at low prices in an effort to look busy and keep jobs, but it soon became clear that the costings were wrong and business couldn’t be sustained. Now we are celebrating our 20th anniversary down here, yet we are looking to expand andembrace new opportunities to drive the company forward in the future.
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