UK asparagus marches on

The 2004 UK asparagus season brought with it high expectations for growers, distributors and retailers, following a strong performance in 2003.

With the campaign swiftly drawing to a close, several growers have teamed up to reflect upon the highs and lows of the season and assess the overall performance of the crop.

Growers continued to follow the efforts of recent seasons and used poly-tunnels for their asparagus. However, this did not produce enough product to signify the true start of the season. The crop was not available in commercial volumes until the final week of April, when soil temperatures reached 10°C.

The damp start to May produced mixed results for growers across the country. Evesham-based Bomfords was unaffected, while Tuddenham Hall cut in bulk during the good weather and fulfilled orders coming in after poorer spells with less sunshine. Mack Multiples reported a cropping pattern as anticipated, despite a lack of sunshine hours, though the company found that wet weather dampened demand. Exotic Farm Produce found that uncertain weather conditions meant the season got off to a frustrating start. This made it difficult to confidently predict the volumes it would be able to make available to retailers. However, subsequent good early June weather has seen productivity stabilise across the country.

Victor Aveling, chairman of the Asparagus Growers' Association, predicted that this year demand would outstrip supply, despite an increased planting rate. This has come to bear to a degree and following an erratic start to the season demand has been steadily increasing.

Chris Kitchen, of Kitchen Garden Produce, says: "The first week in June saw a surge that left some growers unable to fulfil requests. This was driven by promotional activity in-store and exceptional media coverage of the product. The traditional 19-hour peak season working days came into play across the country as cropping was intensified to keep up with customer orders."

Latest penetration data released by TNS is up on the same period last year, with May achieving the highest ever figures. If the growth in demand is sustained until the end of the season, the target penetration figures set for this year (a further rise of one per cent) look attainable.

The asparagus industry is keen to maintain a premium image and quality reputation and all growers were eager to keep price promotions to a minimum. Despite this, the product has been heavily promoted.

Sainsbury's, whose products are coming to an end, has run in-store promotions on all British asparagus. Tesco joined the campaign slightly later this year and promotions are expected to run until the end of the season, while Marks & Spencer has run the most aggressive discounting programme.

Sainsbury's stores carried POS packaging, promoted the British Asparagus Growers' Association's new website - www.british-asparagus.co.uk and used imagery in the core campaign.

The 2004 season has also been supported by a national public relations campaign to promote British asparagus to consumers via the UK media. The campaign has been jointly funded by two of the largest asparagus growers in the UK, Kitchen Garden Produce and Tuddenham Hall, along with four major suppliers of the crop; Mack Multiples, Bomfords, Barfoot's of Botley and Exotic Farm Produce.

The campaign focused on the health benefits and versatility of asparagus. Coverage was secured across national television and a range of newspapers and magazines. The organisation's new website was launched in advance of the start of the season and aimed to encourage those who already buy British asparagus to buy more often and to be more adventurous in their use of the vegetable with a host of recipe suggestions.

The association will be giving a full-season review in July in London when it will confirm the results of the media campaign and assess the season's performance.