Asparagus is historically associated with the Vale of Evesham and even has a dedicated public house called the Round o? Gras? named in its honour. But over the years the industry has spread.

While Worcestershire and Warwickshire saw a diminution in asparagus volumes ? now showing signs of being reversed ? the sandy light soils of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge have proved to be ideal since the 1970s, when big acreages of the crop began to emerge.

?There are very few counties in England that do not have some level of production,? says Jayne Dyas, secretary to the Asparagus Growers Association (AGA). ?There are also growers in Scotland.?

The AGA accounts for 70 per cent of the UK?s acreage and estimates that there are 200 growers overall, although the main bulk of the commercial crop is in the hands of around half this figure.

With imports year-round from countries as far afield as Peru, Thailand and Mexico, asparagus is far less of a luxury product than in days gone by, but the 8-10 week UK season still enjoys a special place in the customers? psyche.

Its importance to the multiple trade ? which sells about 80 per cent of asparagus volume ? can be judged by announcements from the supermarkets when in this early season, the first bundles arrived in store.

?It is one of the few UK products that the public recognise and look forward to every year,? says Victor Aveling, the ebullient AGA chairman who has been growing the crop for over 27 years. And he is passionate it must retain this niche role.

At present, he says, there is hardly enough to go round, although the situation is at least much improved on 20 years ago when he sold a substantial part of his crop by mail order simply because volumes were so small. ?There is no doubt that more consumers are eating asparagus today,? he says. ?So we can?t really meet demand even now?.

To get a sense of scale the current UK crop represents around 2,000 tonnes ? a figure which is a third of annual imports ? the largest comparable suppliers Spain and Peru account for around 1,500t each, but spread over several months.

But the UK contribution is changing, and large-scale planting is again increasing particularly in the Vale of Evesham. It has been so significant that this year the AGA is carrying out a survey to assess how much more will be available in two to three years time when new beds come on stream.

Aveling privately estimates that the figure will show a 20 per cent increase which the market should be able to absorb without suffering any price reductions.

It is this criteria that will influence future patterns and if stability is retained Andy Allen, AGA vice chairman, foresees that the crop could double by around 2014. ?There are a lot of factors to take into account,? he says. ?The UK is right on the edge of production as far as asparagus is concerned.?

Meanwhile, Bomford?s, which farms at Luddington near Stratford-upon-Avon, decided two years ago to grow the crop alongside its range of vegetables. It has invested more than £500,000 in new beds which will last between 10 and 15 years.

Mark Haynes, sales and marketing director anticipates good results from the 80 acres now coming into production. And this is not the end of the story. A further 20 acres will be marketed from other growers in the area.

?Within three to five years we are expecting to have some 250 acres in the Evesham area,? adds Haynes. ?The strategy is to develop a series of production areas with the help of other growers stretching across the south west, as far north as Nottingham, and even extending into Scotland. The result will treble the figure to 750 acres.

?We want to build a comprehensive network so availability will be less affected by weather patterns and provide the chance to create regional sourcing,? he explains. ?It is something which retailers have been extolling, although few at present are actually paying little more than lip service to the idea.?

The 12-strong Western Asparagus Growers Group is another good example. Set up last March, and accounting collectively for 100 acres, chairman Richard Colwill says that this figure will also treble over the next five years. Members are located both in Evesham and in the Midland counties.

?We needed a collective approach following the demise of GMS,? he says, ?and we had to think collectively.?

Labour accounts for 70 per cent of picking and packing costs, so the group invested £80,000 in a new grader, which operates out of Red Star Growers, one of its members.

?The biggest benefits however have been associated with agronomy,? says Colwill, whose members bought six specialist machines from Germany to mechanise both ridging and cutting. ?There is a regular interchange of ideas and we are all learning from each other. Now we need to expand and bring our acreage up to a level we can sensibly manage.?

The group has also chosen specialist distributors Mack Multiples and Utopia to handle its crop which goes to customers such as Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury?s, Somerfield and Waitrose.

?We fully support the initiative that Mack and Bomford?s have taken this season to generically promote the crop,? says Colwill. ?At present demand is greater than supply so the next stage is to grow the market and keep it in balance?.

There is also strong evidence that a longer season is on the way. UK growers are already using similar tunnels to the French, which in many cases has meant that harvesting can start as much as three weeks earlier than a decade ago.?

This year the sunny weather has meant that the first spears were already peeping through the polythene covered rows ploughed with a millimetric in early March. But the main volume will be available from mid-April to mid-June. When completed, retail sales will have been in the region of £6 million.

The jury, however, still seems to be out as to whether this will mean the crop will finish earlier. Aveling says that historically, cutting should finish by mid-June, otherwise plants do not build up enough energy for the following year and yields will experience a natural fall.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that UK asparagus is increasing in popularity. Research figures from TNS estimate the total annual market in the 52 weeks ending in March 2003 to have been worth £18.5m, according to statistics from Food from Britain, although it should be remembered sales are compacted into about eight weeks when imports only play a minor role.

Also total annual sales were up a staggering 26 per cent last year, which looks even more impressive against total fresh produce consumption which has hardly moved.

This season?s asparagus promotion has also added a new dimension. A battery of press releases form part of the promotional strategy this year. Top chefs including household names such as; Delia Smith, Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes have added their support to the campaign with commendations for the value of seasonality and flavour, even going as far as describing the UK crop as ?the best in the world?.

There will also be a number of events in support of the start of the season, backing the AGA?s own self-help efforts, which have been developed over the last 15 years. One example is the two-day Asparagus Festival held in Evesham on May 25-26. It is financed by Bomfords, which is getting organisational support from Wychavon District Council.

Pam Scott, account director of BCLO, which is masterminding the generic campaign for Bomford?s and Mack, and working closely with the AGA, told growers at their recent conference that Sainsbury?s, Waitrose, Somerfield and Marks & Spencer, were adding their support and hinted others were in the pipeline.

Diana Rees, category marketeer, vegetables for the Mack multiple division hopes, like Haynes, these efforts will gather momentum in the years ahead bringing with it a greater awareness through national and regional coverage, and attract other distributors? support.

?The potential is enormous,? she says. ?UK asparagus has an excellent image, but research shows that only 11 per cent of consumers buy it.? This year Mack joined the party financing the campaign with Bomford?s, which took the initiative last year with a seasonal launch driving the first cut of the crop to London hotels.

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