John Major once offered a dewy-eyed, semi-paternal vision of Great Britain as a country of “long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers.”
The former Prime Minister could have added the traditional Sunday roast dinner to that list, such is its longstanding place at the heart of this country’s culture, with the choice of vegetables accompanying the meal having changed little over the decades.
But Toby Bartlett, of roots giant Alan Bartlett & Sons, is fearful that parsnips’ association with the Sunday roast has harmed the root vegetable’s versatility.
He tells FPJ: “We need to encourage the whole younger generation to eat parsnips, and get away from the perception that you only roast parsnips on a Sunday. We need to encourage different ways of cooking them, preparing them, and eating them.
“Parsnips definitely have a place on the shelves, and we have a lot of traditional customers who’ll buy parsnips throughout the year, even in the height of summer. But we still need to find new and interesting developments to keep the consumer interested in our products. If customers want to buy them, then the retailers will sell them.”
Frank Robinson, group sales and marketing director at Produce World, echoes these sentiments: “The joy of parsnips is that they are really sweet, especially when roasted, but even in cake they taste great. We need to get the message out there that parsnips are an unsung hero,” he says. The key to achieving this, according to Guy Poskitt, of Yorkshire-based roots grower and supplier MH Poskitt, comes down to improving education about healthy eating in schools, and increasing the usage of parsnips on school menus. Poskitt believes carrots are currently better placed in this regard, especially because they are a product seemingly riding the crest of a wave with the current rage for juicing products.
Opinion is divided on how growing conditions for both parsnips and carrots have been this year, and when the new UK crop will be on the shelves. Robinson says sunny conditions in the early spring “allowed early crops to be established on time, and make the most of sunshine from beneath crop covers.” He adds that the slightly cooler May “has ensured the UK crop will be available in June with very few surprises.”
Yet Bartlett and Poskitt point to the effects on growing from the chillier-than-average spring, with the former stating his belief that both crops are now around two weeks behind. Alan Bartlett has made the decision to introduce a short import window of three to four weeks to “cover the unpredictability between old and new-season parsnip crops”, while Poskitt notes that the UK is now on a self-sufficiency level of 50 to 51 weeks for carrots.
A big switch from loose to pre-pack sales on parsnips, meanwhile, has been driven by some “strong promotions” in key periods, according to Bartlett. Carrots, though, have seen significant deflation over the last year, which has kept demand strong even leading into what traditionally is the quieter summer period, he tells FPJ.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Poskitt claims that the biggest challenge in parsnips and carrots is the lack of new pesticides, while Bartlett notes that such restrictions and reductions could potentially result in lower packable yields. On this subject, Robinson adds: “The effect of EU hazard-based assessment criteria upon the assessment of crop protection has far-reaching implications for the availability of herbicides for carrots and parsnips. The herbicide of particular concern is linuron, which is the mainstay of herbicide use in UK carrot and parsnip production.”
As for the organic side of the market, which Produce World does a lot of work in, Robinson says: “Organic supply needs to be championed. Carrot fly control in this sector of the market is a real challenge for the UK organic supply and many in the industry are working to develop novels means of controlling this pest of both carrots and parsnips. As bodies work together, there will be the potential to have some exciting solutions.”
Innovation and finding solutions is at the heart of what those working in the category thrive upon. Alan Bartlett, for instance, has recently been working with a Dutch firm to design what it believes to be the world’s first machine to completely automate the factory trimming process for parsnips. It’s this strong backbone that means parsnips have the perfect platform for when it’s their time to enjoy a carrot-esque ‘moment’ with the hipsters.
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