There are seemingly few vegetables that have not been touched by the magic of the miniature. And even a cursory glance round the fresh produce aisles confirms their sustained appeal.
From the first cherry tomatoes in the late 1980s, small vegetables have become a firm favourite on the retail shelves and the sector has now grown far beyond its original size. Mini sweetcorn, carrots, cauliflower and even broccoli have all been scaled down and development is ongoing to find something new. But although mini produce is a big hit with UK consumers, from the seed breeder's point of view the global baby vegetable market is a small one and, says Stuart Cox, technical manager for Sakata UK, the implementation of specific breeding programmes is hard to justify in most species.
Miniature vegetables may be appealing, but they are problematic to produce. “Breeders need to develop dual-purpose varieties suitable at high-density planting for baby production. Or when grown at more conventional spacing, produce medium size product that is also acceptable to the market,” says Cox. “This dual-purpose approach has benefits for both the seed breeders and the producer. One of the most difficult aspects of baby vegetable production is wastage caused by either peaks in production or limited market demand, with varieties able to grow onto the next specification the grower and packer have a second opportunity to market the product. This approach in turn expands the market potential for the variety from the seed breeder's point of view.”
Mini-vegetables, might well be a distinct product but with plenty of small items around, produce cannot always rely on the novelty of size alone. Taste will always be a key feature in any programme for Sakata breeders, be it for baby, or processing type varieties, says Cox.
Taste is particularly vital for the baby range as consumers equate miniature produce with the specific characteristics of being tender, sweet and juicy. Sakata is also able to offer unique varieties. For example, an experimental orange cauliflower, CA 750 F1, has proven a big hit in this season's trials for both baby and as a floretted product. Orange is not a new colour in cauliflower, but CA750 is able to produce this colour consistently throughout the UK summer early autumn cropping season.
Baby sweet potatoes are another first into the UK multiples, according to Barfoots of Botley based in West Sussex. Historically the smaller grades of the orange-skinned US ëBeau Regarde' or Israeli ëJewel' sweet potato have never made it to market, primarily because they have been out-graded at harvest time. However, with the success of the baby vegetable category, coupled with growing public awareness of the government's 5-a-day, initiative, Barfoots has established a niche in the market for a mini sweet potato pre-pack suitable for children. Says Phil Bettinson, supply chain manager for Barfoots: “Increased crop utilisation is good for the farmer and leads to greater supply economies, but the real challenge was finding a solution to dehydration and breakdown during export ñ something the sweeter, smaller grades are more prone to.”
Working with Agrexco to develop an optimum storage protocol, Barfoots is now driving the sweet potato category forward. Account manager Jon Barfoots explains: “Sweet potato is a good all-rounder with market research showing some dynamic growth ñ probably due to its reputation as a power food packed with essential nutrients. The key to the success of mini sweet potatoes is presentation ñ they must be attractive to children. We have worked hard on our export protocol so that customers get the freshest looking product and can be confident of the highest quality.”
But why stop at vegetables, when you can have leaves? Courgette en fleur is a little known delight from the Provence region of France and Mediterranean Italy, and can now be found in major Sainsbury's stores across London. It is a colourful, edible courgette flower, still attached to a baby courgette. Although a popular and versatile addition to the Mediterranean-style table, in the UK, its use is confined to celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Sophie Grigson ñ although this may soon change since its introduction into Sainsbury's. One disadvantage of the product, though, is that it has an extremely short shelf-life, something which Barfoots has worked hard to overcome “Courgette en fleur must be harvested by hand at dawn when the flower is fully blown and then refrigerated within an hour of picking to ensure longer lasting freshness,” explains farm director Nathan Delicott. “We ensure that the product is packed immediately and is then sent, on the first dispatch of the day to Sainsbury's which endeavours to store the pre-packs within a refrigerated temperature regime ñ that way the customer gets the freshest looking product and can be confident of the highest quality.”
Perhaps the most enduring products in the baby portfolio are baby and mini brassicas of which Marshalls is now the largest grower in Europe, producing in excess of 10 million heads. “We have, in the past two years, changed our packing practices so that we can reduce costs and enable a wider audience to purchase and taste the quality of our baby portfolio,” says sales and marketing director Nigel Clare. “We now have more than three baby self-propelled rigs working in the UK, and at our Spanish site, Agromark, allowing freshness to be captured at the point of harvest and thus increasing shelf-life. We are the only company at present who are able to offer such a wide range of babies at affordable prices through these techniques. Our customer portfolio now includes European supermarkets who together with ourselves are highlighting to the consumer the eating and convenience benefits of this range of products.“
With a product range that includes mini-turnips, mini-cauliflower, mini-Romanesco, mini-Savoy cabbage, mini red cabbage, and baby white cabbage, Marshalls has an extensive range, but its new packing techniques that have enabled it to develop a 50 per-cent free promotion, fully funded by Marshalls, which, says Clare, is proving to be a great success.
Baby leaves have also been a huge hit as the bagged salad revolution continues to boom. Tozer Seeds is a leading spinach seed supplier to commercial growers in the UK and Spain. Tozer's new spinach range comprises DM7 cultivars with full 1-7 race mildew resistance. In general, spinach varieties can be grouped according to day length, for example long day, short day and more recently intermediate day length varieties. Preferred varieties of baby leaf spinach have characteristics such as dark green colour, with round thick leaves that are quick-growing but slow bolting, upright with Pf1-7 resistance.
Successful varieties include Emilia F1and Lazio F1 ñ used in the intermediate and long day periods, Lombardia F1 and Toscane F1 in Summer (long days) and Campania F1(short days). Several new numbered lines with huge potential are coming through for Tozer Seeds ñ such as long day variety PV0172.
Highlighting a number of Sakata varieties from a range of species, Cox points to Cabbage Candisa F1 ñ a second early Primo cabbage with exceptional eating quality, which highlights the dual-purpose-possibility. Candisa has a very short internal core, combined with good holding ability and can be grown for both mini and midi specs.
Sakata's spinach Reddy F1 is a unique red-stemmed variety now introduced into UK supermarkets as a novel sweet-tasting baby leaf item. Pak Choi SC8-104 is a true mini variety that can be grown in cellular trays for its short growing cycle of 30-40 days. SC8-104 is then harvested directly from the tray and packed as a true mini-vegetable. SC8-104 is in its first year of UK trials and generating real interest with specialist producers and marketing groups.
It is the convenience aspect of mini-vegetables that continues to push sales forward says Univeg's marketing director Grahame Ball because for many mini-vegetables it's almost like buying a semi-prepared product. Good availability, good flavour and a prolonged shelf-life will continue to help the baby sector grow.
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