Growers and packers around the country are working around the clock to ensure that there will be enough Brussels Sprouts on supermarket shelves for Christmas.
The sub-zero temperatures and volume of snow have made harvesting conditions extremely challenging, in particular for loose sprouts.
Teams of harvesters have battled freezing temperatures and horizontal snow to ensure a continuous supply.
Marshalls, part of the Produce World Group, supplies a wide range of retail and foodservice customers and grows its sprouts from the West Country across to Lincolnshire on the East Coast, and all the way up to Scotland, which has meant that they have been able to ensure a continuous supply to all their customers.
“A key learning from the last two severe winters is that a good geographical spread is critical to continuous supply, but nobody could have predicted the widespread nature and length of this arctic weather over the UK”, said Catriona Mowbray, marketing manager at Marshalls.
“We have increased the quantity of sprout trees we are supplying to our customers and earlier this year invested in state-of-the art storage and handling facilities which have enabled us to deliver the incredible volumes during this peak period”, continued Mowbray.
Sprout trees (whole stems of Brussels sprouts sold intact) are becoming increasingly popular with consumers because they can cook them as they need them, ensuring fresher sprouts with minimal wastage. Sales of sprout trees have increased in volume by 88 per cent according to Kantar Worldpanel data.
Marshalls said it has delivered more than half a million sprout trees since the beginning of this week and expects the quantity will rise to over one million in the run up to Christmas.
The company said it had managed to harvest sprouts every day in December despite adverse conditions.
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