Kentish cobnut grower John Cannon estimates there are 200 tonnes of cobnuts grown in the UK each year. Also the chairman of the Kentish Cobnuts Association (KCA), he is unable to do more than estimate as there is no official figure.
Perhaps this exemplifies the problem with a niche line like this. In an age where the supermarket buyers are looking for not only year-round availability but also enough volume to give a product presence on their shelves, the relatively low volume availability of cobnuts does them no favours.
Cobnuts, however, have been consumed in the UK for centuries and are a product for the genuine connoisseur. They will undoubtedly remain a niche line and are only listed by Waitrose and Sainsbury's among the UK's multiple chains. Wholesale trade is steady but unlikely to increase. Producers and marketers are therefore searching out new sales avenues, with mail order being the most successful to date.
Meg Game compiles the KCA's newsletter The Cobweb and its July edition reported this year's crop as “middling”. Things have obviously taken a turn for the better, as this week she says: “We have a high quality and abundant crop, which is unusual after the fantastic harvest last year.” There is a consensus that the cobnut has alternate good and bad cropping years, due in the most part to the pollination process.
Cobs have been available to pick for the last two weeks, but the commercial harvest had not begun in earnest when the Journal went to press. “It is not a heavy harvest,” says Cannon. “But the quality is extremely good.”
A wet spring provided enough water resource for the crop to survive the heatwave of the last six weeks, but, says Barny Webb at Allens Farm, a little rain would be helpful in the near future. “We could do with some rain to freshen things up. All the nuts are developed on the tree, but they are struggling a bit to fill the shells. Our pruner tells us that the crop will be smaller than last year.”
Which is good news all round. “Last year was poor overall, as there was an oversupply from France and a hangover into the UK crop. But it looks more open this season and we would expect prices to be higher,” says Cannon.
Game reported the withdrawal of Sainsbury's from the cobnut scene this year in July's Cobweb, but the retailer has had a change of heart and will after all be listing the line in selected stores. Cannon says: “It is unfortunate that the majority of supermarkets do not put their faith in cobnuts. It is their policy to cut back on the niche lines generally and if a product is not available year-round, it is not attractive to them.
“Tesco has made the decision that cobnuts do not fit into its plans and Sainsbury's of course has to be competitive. The public have been brainwashed into believing supermarkets are cheaper but that is not necessarily the case. Waitrose has always offered the widest range it can to its customers and is also committed to regional sourcing in Kent.”
The trend towards regional sourcing is one that should benefit the cobnut community. But no-one is kidding themselves that retail shelves will swell with the line in years to come. The perennial problem is still the prevalent concern. “There are cobnut consumers out there, but their problem is that it is very difficult to buy them,” says Game. “There are fewer greengrocers each year and you just don't see them [cobnuts] in your local supermarket.”
The KCA has cast its net wider this year, with a regularly updated website for the aficionado and high profile advertising in media for the Jewish, Turkish and Greek communities in the UK. “We are advertising in the Jewish Chronicle, which has a circulation of 250,000,” says Game. “The Jewish like to have nuts for their New Year celebrations, which take place in the middle of our season ñ this year on September 26. The Turkish and Greeks living in London are also large consumers and we are targeting their community newspapers.”
Cannon concurs: “The best sales tend to be in large conurbations where there is a high proportion of ethnic consumers. The ethnic population is more knowledgeable about nuts and is not frightened of them, whereas there is a tendency in Britain to put all nuts in one basket. After all the stories in recent times about nut allergies and particularly with peanuts, consumers have lumped all nuts into that category and cobnuts, which have been a source of nutrition to people for thousands of years do suffer from the comparison.”
The cobnut is an ever-popular salad ingredient, but as it is not sold in great quantity until September, the salad days of this heady summer may finish too early to force a boom this year. Consumer preferences differ, and while some prefer the green nut, others wait until it has browned before eating. The French precede the Kentish product in the market with an offer that is all brown and therefore the continuity so desired by buyers is rarely there.
Webb admits that the 60-70 year old category represents the most influential outlet for Allens mail order cobnuts. “Unless the cobnut is the answer to eternal life, that is obviously an issue,” he says. “Something has to be done to raise awareness among younger generations and to promote the cobnut as an excellent source of protein.”
Allens Farm has nurtured its own following, with cobnut coverage gleaned from BBC radio, local TV and the Daily Telegraph in the last 12 months. The 2,500 trees on the Plaxtol farm are all certified as organic, which has its benefits and drawbacks. “Last year we only picked two thirds of our crop,” says Webb, “because there is a certain level of price below which the cost of picking the nuts becomes prohibitive.
“We can store and come back in at the end, and I think we'll do that more this year, but because there is not a big market for organic cobnuts, we tend to sell them for a very similar price [to conventionally produced cobnuts]. If you factor in all the costs of producing organically and the increase in minimum wage, then economically it becomes very difficult to compete on price terms.”
Allens does not sell into the retail sector and would like a “retail showcase” to increase the profile of the product. It did however have a very successful year last year with mail order and sends out cobnut recipes with the product. “Cobnut meringue is amazing,” says Webb, “and generally people have little idea of how to use cobnuts. We do have a large mail order to a wholesaler in Scandinavia every year, which sells into the speciality market in the region.”
For the devotee, ensuring the survival of the cobnut is a passion akin to the Welsh fight to preserve their language. “It is a heroic food,” says Game, “and the struggle to maintain its market will continue.”
“It is a niche line, but it is not just a posh nut or a speciality nut as some people might categorise it,” says Webb. “It has great appeal to maintainers of heritage, culture and tradition and people that just love their food.”
One community that hopes this is the case is perhaps not going to be the most lucrative. The red squirrel has a taste for cobnuts as its preferred food, the wild hazel is being eaten by the unfortunately far more plentiful grey. Squirrel-like, the Romans used cobnuts as protection against the chills of winter. The product has a lot to offer today's society too ñ all too big a proportion though just doesn't know it.
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