The Royal Cornwall Show held on June 10-12 enticed around 110,000 visitors to the region - an area that is increasingly the focus for the burgeoning summer brassica sector. “Cornish production has an importance in allowing us to strengthen the shoulders of the season and thus reduce imports,” says Marshall’s sales and marketing director, Nigel Clare. “It also it allows a good and steady supply of English vegetables during the months of November to May and we are taking on new growers in this area.”
Growing conditions were not ideal earlier in the season, according to Geoff Turner, business development manager for Redbridge Holdings, but due to warmer weather and rainfall conditions are now perfect. “Everything is expected on time and is of good quality with good yields,” he says.
Through its Britfresh initiative, Redbridge has contracted more acreage this year to meet increased demand. “At the moment there is no significant impact on the UK market from abroad but the Polish situation may change this in the future,” says Turner. “The key to delivering value for the growers is about working more closely with them to ensure the suitability, quality and consistency of their product so that they can maximize value. It is a question of being efficient.”
The hot weather of the past few days has not really affected growers greatly, says Clare, who adds: “However I suspect that if the heat wave continues then we could encounter insect infiltration in our crops very shortly. Our most recent problem has been reduced shelf life in broccoli due to excessive field heat, we have been able to remove this, however we are still seeing very high supermarket temperatures that are reducing shelf life.
Globally, products such as tomatoes and melons account for the greatest sales for Seminis, but for northern Europe in particular, summer brassicas are a hugely important crop. “It may be a surprise to learn that our most popular varieties are those that best suit the growers and consumers,” says special project manager, Steve Parrott. “The key is consistent, reliable quality. Consumers want to be able to walk into a supermarket and buy a cauliflower seven days a week, 365 days a year. To supply this consumer demand, the supermarkets must have a constant supply of quality product available to them. To ensure consistent supply to the supermarkets, the growers need to be able to accurately plan their cropping and know that the varieties they choose to grow will cope with the variable weather conditions and deliver them a quality finished product.”
Seminis’s cauliflower variety Freedom F1 fits this bill exactly. A standard of summer cauliflower production, Freedom produces deep white curds and an excellent facepack. “The variety is very uniform, copes well with different soils and climatic conditions and can be harvested from July to October, maturing 70-80 days from planting,” says Parrott. “Our variety Ironman F1 does the same for broccoli growers, giving an attractive domed head with excellent shelf life. Ironman F1 is a main crop broccoli, with good vigour and uniformity, maturing 4-6 days after our other popular variety Chevalier F1. It is suitable for UK harvest between June and November and has performed well in Spain to give all year round continuity.”
Some growers suffered a bad winter crop that meant they came into the summer season with low confidence levels. “This summer is very important to them,” says Turner. “Although growing conditions are currently perfect, the only potential threat will be if the dry weather continues and we see a green aphid epidemic.”
The biggest difference between winter and summer brassicas probably shows most in cauliflower, says Parrott. “Winter cauliflowers have a very defined harvest interval of normally one or two weeks. Summer cauliflowers can vary considerably in their harvest period depending on climatic conditions and time of planting.”
“Our UK summer brassica are very important as the UK season for most core brassica is only six or seven months,” says Clare, “so we need to ensure good sales with a fine balance on price, thus allowing good returns for our growers to re invest for the future. The last two seasons have seen a return to warmer temperatures that has not been beneficial for demand and price. However this year I am anticipating that this heatwave will reduce yields dramatically and hence I am forecasting higher retails over the coming months.
“With a decline in the UK consumer market of frozen vegetables and the UK freezing companies moving to a higher percentage of imported products, I am concerned that the growing base are reducing acreage for safety (as to eliminate heavy volume gluts), this will have a dramatic effect if this combined with reduce yields (through hot weather) is realised we could see very high prices for a period of time. Also the rains earlier on this year did disrupt plantings for a period of time so I feel we are in for a very turbulent year of supply.”
Broccoli has been the star of Marshalll’s portfolio for quite some time, but, says Clare, prices are now being eroded and demand is slowing. Other lines that are performing well for Marshalls are pointed cabbage and baby veg.
IMA Cooling Systems is giving its customer’s summer vegetables what they need in terms of fog. Ultrasonic humidification is the key to creating a cold foggy morning in all its client’s chill stores throughout the year and using the latest technology from the Netherlands, IMA is installing many such systems across the country, most being used on chill stores which remove the field heat from freshly harvested cauliflower and broccoli. “Produce can arrive at these stores in a quite distressed state, being dry and very warm. Our systems will remove the field heat very quickly while also providing the product with much needed moisture to help improve appearance and extend shelf life,” says managing director John Dye. “The difference between the ultrasonic systems and other humidifiers is that the water droplet size is very, very small and can be much more easily absorbed by the produce. In addition the systems only use water treated by reverse osmosis and ultra violet processes and as such is sterile and totally safe.”
IMA has completed installations of the fogging systems for many of the country’s leading operators including TH Clements & Son and A Gomez, and has orders for many others including Green Field Produce, WJ Thomas, Produce World and McDonalds of Arbroath. The fogging systems can be retrofitted into any existing chill store and will replace the moisture removed by conventional DX cooling systems. They provide evaporative cooling and therefore actually help to supplement the cooling capacity of the refrigeration plant. “The benefits of this system to the user are enormous and we believe this to be one of the most significant things to happen in the fresh produce cooling sector for some years,” says Dye.
After more than 25 years of manufacturing high humidity coolers for the refrigeration trade, IMA Cooling Systems has quickly established itself as one of the country’s leading specialists in the design, installation and servicing of specialist cooling equipment for fresh produce growers and packers. “We are now one of the major contracting companies in the UK and provide a unique blend of experience both in refrigeration design and understanding what the produce needs when it is in store. Having made cooling equipment for other contractors for many years, we now provide the complete package to the end user, in effect cutting out the middle man.”
As the world’s largest vegetable seed breeder and supplier the major produce businesses look to Seminis first to offer new innovations and solutions to changing market demands. Says Parrott: “We have a close working relationship with all of the main brassica grower/packers and close links with the multiples and foodservice sector. Only by maintaining such close partnerships can we keep our ear to the ground to predict changes in consumer trends. This is vitally important with most brassica crops, since the time from first breeder cross to commercial seed availability can be 8-10 years. We worked with some of the first growers to produce mini vegetables, finding that some varieties like Freedom F1 adapted to both standard and mini production techniques. As part of our selection process for new varieties, we look for potential in the mini vegetable sector, as well as for processing and standard production.”
Seminis has a strong belief that variety is the key to success in both senses of the word. “More diverse and exotic takes on traditional types like our Berzoni F1, the pointed Savoy cabbage, will tempt people into including more brassicas in their diet. More varieties will mean the possibility to increase the UK season further while bringing other benefits like enhanced nutrient levels and greater resistence to disease,” says Parrott.
The biggest challenge, he continues, must surely be to increase consumption, particularly in the younger generation. The fact that brassicas, and in particular the faster growing summer brassicas contain a whole host of beneficial micro-nutrients and pre-cursors which if consumer as part of a balanced diet have been proven to improve health can only be of benefit.
Nutrition and taste have always been on the breeders’ wish list, but now they are a high priority. For example our Premier GreensTM range of spring greens type of cabbage, which extends from Summergreen F1, through Evergreen F1 to Winter Special F1 and Winter Supreme Plus F1, was developed to bring varieties with greatly improved uniformity, a higher percentage of leaf to core and, most importantly, a superior flavour when compared to other types of spring greens. Because all four varieties keep more open and leafy rather than hearting quickly they are especially good for use chopped and shredded in stir-fry packs.”
Seminis has a long-term commitment to adding value to all types of vegetables and brassicas are no exception. “We are developing the so-called Super Broccoli with high sulphoraphane levels, which help neutralise cancer-causing substances found in the gut,” says Parrott. “Clinical studies are beingundertaken at the moment with this product, which hopefully will be commercially available in just another couple of years.”
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