Tenderstem broccoli growers in the UK are experiencing an earlier start to the season, during the second year that British Tenderstem will be widely available in the country's supermarkets.
Thanks to unseasonably warm spring weather and hard work and planning from growers, domestic Tenderstem, usually in season from mid-June through to mid-November, first hit supermarket shelves this year on 26 May.
'We started harvesting our Tenderstem crop last Thursday (26 May), a week and a half earlier than last year,' noted grower Andrew Green. 'Although the warm weather in April and May has been a big help in bringing an early harvest, it’s also been the result of a lot of hard work, planning and implementation of learnings from the 2010 season.'
This is only the second year that British Tenderstem broccoli has been widely available in UK supermarkets, with last year’s first season sales totalling 400,000kg and representing around 20 per cent of overall of Tenderstem sales in the UK in 2010.
'Being a grower is a continual form of education, and we learnt a lot last year about optimal planting dates and how best to manipulate the crop, so we’re hoping to be able to produce a lot more Tenderstem and for much longer this year,' Green added. 'We’ve already managed to start earlier and hope to finish later too, meaning that we’ll be able to supply British Tenderstem for a good six months of the year.'
The amount of Tenderstem broccoli being grown in the UK has expanded dramatically this year, meaning UK growers will be able to deliver even higher volumes of the home grown crop to UK consumers in 2011 – it is predicted that the 2011 domestic Tenderstem season will deliver a total of 480,000kg to the market up 20 per cent.
In addition to a record breaking early start to the season, unprecedented volumes of Tenderstem were sold in March and April 2011. In March, Tenderstem achieved its highest ever monthly sales of 301,667kg, while in April, sales of 289,785kg represented a yearly increase of 71 per cent.
'There’s no doubt that Tenderstem has been increasing in popularity year-on-year since it was first launched in the UK back in 2002,' said Andy Macdonald, managing director of master licensor Coregeo. 'Last year alone we sold over 2.5m kg of Tenderstem, an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year, and if the spring sales figures are anything to go by, it looks like 2011 could be a bumper year too.
'At Coregeo we work hard to ensure that the highest quality standards for the crop are maintained, whether it’s grown in the UK or abroad, and we feel it’s these high standards and the undeniable quality of this premium product that keeps UK consumers coming back for more,' he added.
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