Suppliers throw weight behind runner bean campaign

Some of the UK’s largest suppliers have teamed up to revive the runner bean.

Barfoots of Botley, Wealmoor, Manor Fresh and Mack Multiples are among those backing the Great British Runner Bean summer campaign.

The British runner bean has fallen on hard times in recent years. Last year, just 12 per cent of households bought British runner beans during their July-September season, down almost a quarter in just five years, according to a survey of 3000 people conducted by OnePoll during July 2011.

The research also reveals that almost a third of consumers in the UK (31 per cent) have no idea when British runner beans are in season.

Support for the beans is gaining momentum among the blogging community with 15 UK food bloggers - including supper club proprietor MsMarmiteLover - taking part in an underground project to blog and tweet about the process of growing, harvesting and enjoying these forgotten beans.

Consumer research suggests awareness of the runner bean season is low among the younger generation with 44 per cent of 18-24 year olds unable to accurately determine when the British runner bean season actually is.

In addition 32 per cent of young adults claim they never eat British runner beans during the three-month season, but the same proportion admit that they eat American-inspired tinned baked beans up to twice a week.

Daniel Grover of Wealmoor said: “Consumers seem to have fallen out of love with runner beans in recent years and sales have been declining steadily. It is worrying for growers that it is the older generation which appears to be the biggest supporters of runner beans while young adults appear to have a preference for other bean varieties. UK grown Runner Beans have a great heritage and are available from July through to October. Maintaining and growing demand is very important.

“If we’re to halt the decline of the British runner bean we need to capture the imagination of the next generation of consumers encouraging children and young adults to give runner beans a try, have a go at growing their own and support British locally-grown runner beans.”