The UK now devotes some 8,000 hectares to herbs, which ranks it a significant way behind France, which with an excess of 33,000ha is the leading producer, and Germany which has more than 27,000ha.
In addition, Italy and Spain remain important suppliers to the UK market, despite not operating the largest areas of production.
According to the European Herb Growers’ Association’s (Europam) statistics from 2002, Italy had 3,600ha of herbs while figures were unavailable for Spain.
Europam estimated that in 2002 Europe had a total area of approximately 100,000ha under production. Although, with the accession of additional EU countries, such as Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, offering a combined area of more than 115,000ha, the association suggested the future herb market would prove increasingly competitive.
As president of Europam and managing director of UK herb company, Castle Aromatics Ltd, James Lambe is aware of the UK’s limitations and the importance of maintaining cooperation with herb producers across the continent.
He says: “We have in the region of 8,000ha of herbs in the UK for all the market and we are pretty much self-sufficient in the ones we can grow. We grow parsley and coriander very well. Basil doesn’t do quite as well and has a short season so we do import a large percentage from Spain, Ita§ly and Israel.”
However, the UK acreage has been increasing at an impressive rate and Lambe believes the country will continue to see more growth in this sector in the future.
“We are seeing a much greater variety of herbs in demand, a lot of which is down to the celebrity television chefs,” he says. “They virtually never appear without at least one fresh herb and they have really opened up the market - the UK area has gone up by around 40 per cent in the last five years.
“I don’t think we are anywhere near capacity,” Lambe continues. “The number of people buying fresh herbs is still very low.
“It is a continental taste we have adopted, like wine, but whether or not we will ever get up to their levels I am not sure.”
Europam’s objective is to represent European growers with regards to the various directives issued by the EU. Lambe highlights a recent dispute over the properties of basil as an example. The association has been illustrating the health benefits of basil in its totality, in view of the commission’s suggestions of a carcinogenic chemical component of the herb.
“We have also been working very hard to get a EurepGAP auditing system for medicinal herbs,” he continues.
“There is currently no such system in place which is strange considering medicinal herbs are semi-pharmaceutical.
“The EMEA (European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products) is encouraging us to set up a self-administered system of auditing similar to the EurepGAP process for fresh produce,” he says.
“It will probably take a couple of years to implement because it has to be administered and drafted and then we have to get the industry behind it.”
Lambe’s intention is to make Castle Aromatics a “one-stop-shop for all herb products”.
The majority of the business is concerned with the supply of fresh herbs to the food manufacturing sector for use in prepared meals and salads.
The company distributes around two tonnes per week of its main lines - basil, flat parsley and coriander - as well as smaller volumes of other lines, including oregano, thyme, dill and rosemary.
As consumers become more aware of exotic flavours, ready meals are being adapted to the more adventurous palate, says Lambe.
“Our customers are professional chefs so they are always keen to expand the variety of herbs they are using and prepared foods are getting more adventurous.”
However, the developers of products like ready meals are significantly limited by their budgets, since fresh herbs are distinctly more expensive than their freeze-dried equivalents, he explains.
One area of the market which has seen growth in the last five years is infused oils, which now accounts for about 30 per cent of the business, Lambe says. “They have proven very popular because they have a clean ingredient deck, which is very important - simply just fresh herbs and oils.”
Another rapidly growing area is herbal extracts, such as ginseng, which are increasingly being used in the production of soft drinks.
Lambe says the company has been developing this sector over the past couple of years and it now accounts for around 10 per cent of the business.
He attributes its success to the overall growth in the soft drink industry and the fact that people are moving away from the standard lines to more interesting drink varieties.
ROQUETTING FORWARD
Herb leaves are bursting with nutrients and becoming big business as consumers demand more from their salads, according to Vitacress Salads.
As the UK’s largest producer of wild roquette, the company has witnessed the herb go from strength to strength since the company first introduced it in the early 1990s.
In the last 12 months alone, the demand has increased by more than 20 per cent, according to Vitacress Salads production and technical director, Steve Rothwell.
“Interestingly when we launched roquette we started with 25g punnets as it was deemed ‘far too pungent and novel for volume sales’, says Rothwell. “Now, in the summer months we sell more than 30,000kg a week of wild and salad roquette in 50g, 70g, 80g and 100g solo bags and in mixed salads.”
The UK climate is conducive to growing roquette outdoor from May to September, depending on the weather. According to Rothwell, roquette is very sensitive to the cold and will turn blue, owing to cold-induced phosphate deficiency, if temperatures drop below a critical level.
For this reason Italy remains the biggest producer with the UK providing about a tenth of Vitacress’s volume, he estimates. For the remaining months of the year, Vitacress Salads imports wild roquette from its farms in Portugal, Spain and Kenya, with additional support also coming from Italy and the US.
“We also grow organic wild roquette which accounts for about 4 tonnes a week of production with a similar spread of Vitacress and partner farm production, in Portugal, the US, the UK and Kenya,” Rothwell continues.
“And we plan to have organic wild roquette from our Spanish farm this winter.”
While there are no recognised varieties of wild roquette, Vitacress is working with seed breeders to introduce a disease-resistant variety. According to Rothwell, mildew is the biggest threat to the crop, for which there is no resistance, and alternaria, which causes black spotting, can be equally devastating.
In summer Vitacress also produces more than 15t per week of salad roquette. Although the company has experienced less growth with this line, it has remained stable, while wild roquette has shot up considerably, Rothwell claims.
However, with regards to consistency, wild roquette seed is much harder to guarantee than salad roquette.
As a consequence, wild roquette is also much more difficult to grow, which, of course, renders it a more expensive product.
One of the company’s biggest selling prepared salad lines is the mixed watercress, spinach and roquette bag, some of which use wild roquette while some use the more reliable salad variety.
“We grow, wash and pack all three leaves,” says Rothwell. “This Vitacress mix has been a huge success in the UK. All the multiples have now copied it and it is the biggest selling salad.
“Interestingly, these are three of the most nutritionally important leaves one could eat,” he continues. “They are rich in a range of specialist phytochemicals - folates in spinach, PEITC (mustard oils) in watercress and sulphurothanes in roquette. They are all also implicated in chemo-protection from carcinogens.”
Most recently, some companies have started to introduce ranges of unwashed prepared salads.
However, Rothwell says this is not an avenue Vitacress will be pursuing. “Washing removes many spoilage organisms so if it is properly done, it extends the life of the product.
“It also reduces the risk of pathogens. Selling pre-packed unwashed leaves is dangerous as they are likely to be subject to lengthy display or home storage since the bag stops the produce wilting, or senescence, which generally ends the usuable life of unwashed salads before pathogens become an issue.”
The company’s range also includes smaller volumes of coriander, chervil, chives and conventional and organic flat parsley.
“We will also be buying UK red basil for a new line this summer,” says Rothwell. “We use these herbs to add flavour to a range of baby leaf salads.”
Vitacress used to grow sorrel, mint and purslane, although these have since been pushed aside by a greater demand for the core products.
However, with the company’s commitment to trialling several hundred new and improved leaves each year, there is always a possibility for reintroducing former lines, Rothwell claims.
“I see herbs as perfect partners for our range of tender baby leaves and foresee continued growth in demand for the current range and new introductions to the range,” he concludes.
“They add points of difference to salad mixes, interest and new flavours.”
No comments yet