The less likely you are to succeed, the more determined you become. This can be said of the way the dynamic and ever-inventive onion and garlic sectors have pushed even their most unusual offer into the consumer arena. From the particularly wacky garlic beer and ice cream creations - not for the palate-sensitive - to prepared product Eazy Garlic, pink onions and the prepared onion offer, consumers and caterers have continued to use more of these products that at one point would have been considered by many too pungent or unpleasant to handle.
Know your onions
Certainly, through various celebrity chefs and the nation’s increasingly cosmopolitan taste buds, people are becoming more adventurous with their onions and garlic. One of the more proactive fresh produce promotional groups, British Onions - funded by the British Onion Producers’ Association - has been working towards upping general demand of home-grown onions and according to new chairman Robert Oldershaw Jr, who is also director of his family firm, the Moulton Bulb Company, “saturation has seen a double-digit increase over the last four to five years”.
“Few vegetables provide the flavour of an onion; it is intense and unique,” says Oldershaw. “We are now trying to get consumers to use the product in a different way to just popping it in a bolognese, by thinking of it as a vegetable in its own right. The campaign has brought new buyers into the market and penetration is very high, so now we are concentrating on getting the buyers already there to purchase more.”
In the retail arena, British is key and if supermarket shelves aren’t jam-packed with home-grown onions most of the year, there has been a problem. The British onion industry, through overwintering crops and effective storage, can provide the supermarkets with a continuous drip almost year-round, until southern hemisphere stock is needed in June and July. As Oldershaw puts it: “Supermarkets are called regularly by various parts of the industry but, in general, supermarkets are pro-British growers. British growers are the best in the world and generally speaking, growers do a very good job and produce a quality product.”
But onions are a globally traded commodity and all in all, home-grown onions provide approximately 50 per cent of those consumed throughout all avenues to market in the UK.
Lower yields
The final shipments of southern hemisphere onions will arrive in the UK from mainly Chile and New Zealand by the beginning of next week and the import season has been described as “buoyant”. Just as well, as the British crop came on stream up to two weeks late due to unfavourable wet and cold conditions at harvesting point.
“Initially, the planting period was perfect for onions with hot and dry weather,” explains onion supplier Malcolm Gray, director of Spalding-based The Allium Alliance. “In the UK, we are harvesting the sets and from that crop we can see that the overall yield will be down and bulb size will be smaller than last year. The sets have done relatively well and haven’t been affected by the drought as much as drilled crop. The potential problem will arrive February to June 2011 from the drilled crop, which will take on the effects of the lack of water more than the sets, meaning further loss of yield and bulb size.”
Not surprisingly, it’s a similar tale over the North Sea in the fields of the UK’s main source of top-up crops, the Netherlands. Yields are down, but according to general manager of Dutch onion supplier Mulder Onions BV, Gerard Hoekman, 90 per cent of the Dutch crops are looking good. “August is an important month and the weather will decide whether storage quality will be good or not. We need mild and dry conditions, as well as sun.”
The European crop has increased in acreage, but in the Netherlands there will be a slight decrease in yield of about 10 per cent. “Spain was late in planting due to weather conditions in April, but that crop has fared reasonably well and there will not be a problem with availability, but across Europe yields will be down by 10-15 per cent and there is a potential for difficulties at various times in the year,” adds Gray.
After seeing in two years of the vice-chairman role before taking up British Onions’ top job, Oldershaw says that the last couple of years have been challenging for the industry overall. “The drought will cause a problem for the rest of the year,” he says. “Rain has come but at the wrong time, which has brought disease pressure. With a sunny harvest, there will be a good crop and a good amount of onions in the UK.”
Certainly all eyes are on the end customers to see how they react, according to Rustler Produce’s business unit director Jonathan Tole. “How retailers, processors and food manufacturers react will determine whether [lower yields] is good or bad news for the industry,” he says. “Lower yields of smaller sized bulbs will mean that growers wil need higher prices to ensure their sustainability. Those who recognise this will gain growers’ loyalty and future support.”
Garlic boon
What with consumer preoccupation with buying British and China’s crop running short this year, UK garlic growers are facing a strong season, meaning that two of the main players, The Garlic Farm in the Isle of Wight and Scottish firm The Really Garlicky Company, are busy preparing their crops.
The garlic industry is close-knit in the UK and the two competitors often discuss how the crops are looking. “Colin [Boswell, of The Garlic Farm] gave us a call to find out how it was going for us the other week,” says Gilli Allingham, co-owner of the Scottish company with husband Glen. “It looks like there is going to be a worldwide shortage and the price of garlic from China is set to rocket; it’s looking more hopeful for the price in the UK this year.”
It’s not in doubt that China is still the biggest grower and exporter of the crop in the world but due to price pressure, growers have planted less than last year, which will have an obvious effect on availability.
Rumour has it that demand is so high that many Chinese growers have sold their entire crops before harvest, while others are waiting - hoping they’re sitting pretty - to see if they can get a higher price once their crop is available. Netted Chinese garlic is set to double in price on UK wholesale markets by the end of the season. “Spanish and Chinese garlic are the main offers,” says Gilli Allingham, “but even though British is more expensive, our advantage is that people care more about where their food comes from and we attract all the foodie types.”
The Really Garlicky Company’s Glen Allingham was just finishing off his garlic harvest last weekend and has seen a relatively successful wet, or green, garlic run of two weeks. This offer - although particularly niche - starts the garlic season and gets interest going. “It tastes fantastic,” says Gilli Allingham. “It’s fresh and just out of the ground, rather than our main crop which is of course dried, but the average person even at the food shows doesn’t get that. One person told me that a wet garlic bulb was not ripe the other week, as if it was a hard nectarine, which just shows how much understanding there is out there. The shops also don’t like it because if it isn’t used quickly or stored properly, it can become mouldy. It is a niche and it needs to be sold quickly.”
Promotional plans
Like its allium cousin, the garlic crop in the Isle of Wight started late this year due to the weather.
“It was a wet winter and it was difficult to prepare the land for planting, which meant we had to plant later and the harvest still finishes at the same time,” says The Garlic Farm’s sales manager, Darren Rayner, who estimates that the farm’s main crop of 50 acres will result in one million bulbs. “We will have the same amount of garlic, but just at different times of the year.
“Last year was wet, but this year was just damp and it was difficult to raise the garlic, meaning the opportunity for wet garlic was reduced. We have a lot of success with Elephant garlic, which is the very large variety. In 2008-09, we went up to 60,000 plants.”
With the situation in China, Rayner believes that retail prices for garlic will be higher for consumers this year. “This is not just because of China,” he says. “All imported garlic will bring a keener price. The Garlic Farm saw a slight price increase in January, but it hasn’t increased with the new season crop now. We try to be as mean and keen as we can. Thankfully, food miles, provenance and quality are all on our side.”
Scottish garlic will once again feature in Waitrose this year, in what Gilli Allingham calls a “relaunch”. “November last year was the last time we had any garlic in store so it is almost like a relaunch each year,” she says. “It was not such a good crop last year and we were worried about whether Waitrose would take us on again, but yes, it is sticking with us.
“It obviously does well because of our brand - it is the only one in the retail market for garlic.”
IOW GEARS UP FOR GARLIC
The Garlic Farm introduced its garlic, apricot and ginger ice cream and a rhubarb and pear ice cream at this year’s Isle of Wight Garlic Festival last week, to a crowd of eager garlic lovers.
The event, which has been going for more than 25 years and is described as one of the best food festivals in Britain by The Times, now promotes more than garlic and supports some of the island’s best food and drink, with more than 300 stalls. The Garlic Farm is a fixed feature in the Garlic Marquee and displayed its own garlic beer, which is a joint venture with a micro-brewery based on the farm’s site, its various varieties of fresh and dried garlic and chutneys.
ONIONS GALORE IN NEWENT
This year’s Onion Fayre in Newent, Gloucestershire, is promising to be the biggest and best to date, with more than 12,000 people expected to attend and Countryfile presenter Adam Henson officially opening the fayre as guest of honour.
The event is the largest single-day festival in Gloucestershire and on 11 September will include dancing, stalls, shows, street entertainers, rides and lakeside events.
One of the fayre’s biggest selling points is its unique Onion Show - the only event of its kind in the country - which takes place in the Memorial Hall and sees exhibitors from all over Britain competing for trophies and cash prizes in a variety of classes.
There will also be an onion-eating competition, onion-stringing demonstrations, live music and a beer and wine festival.
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