While football fans across Europe are talking about which team is underrated, or a dark horse to win Euro 2016, you could make a comparison between the likes of the Italian national football team, and radish. Lando van Doorn, of veg seed breeders Hazera, which describes itself as the market-leader on round radish, tells FPJ that as a product, radish is “underrated, with great potential”.
Van Doorn points to the product’s convenient nature, and its health credentials. He adds: “It is a product that a lot of consumers are still to discover the benefits of, as it is not as well known as cucumber or lettuce.”
Market data shows that van Doorn has a point – there was a four per cent volume growth on radish in the past 52 weeks, according to Kantar Worldpanel, with much of this growth in the winter. The same data shows that just under 30 per cent of UK households bought radish in the last year, meaning that it can still contribute a lot more to the UK salad market’s £1.6 billion retail value.
For van Doorn, key to boosting sales and consumption is making the product more prominent in supermarkets, as well as companies such as Hazera improving the crop for growers, trade and consumers, making it available year-round and making growers and consumers more aware of radish’s benefits. Anthony Gardiner, of G’s, which commissions the Love the Crunch campaign to promote radish, adds: “To really get people eating more, we need to move it up the snacking agenda. Also, radish is one of the most weather-sensitive crops in the G’s portfolio of salad products, and a strong period of sunshine would supercharge radish sales.”
According to Adam Thompson, of Lancashire-based radish grower and supplier JJ Thompson & Sons, which grows about 140 acres of the product, and imports it in the UK’s off-season for Asda and Aldi, more celebrity chefs and TV cookery shows using the product could help push up sales and introduce the product to a new set of consumers.
Thompson tells FPJ that he has had to contend with “quite difficult” growing conditions recently, with the crop suffering a setback due to a wet spring, although Gardiner says that growing conditions in Norfolk have been “okay”. Van Doorn notes radish grown outdoors in continental Europe – particularly in Germany – has been hit by recent inclement weather, with some growers facing losses that could reach as much as 30 per cent of acreage.
As for incoming innovation on the product, van Doorn emphasises the growing trend of including radish in pre-cut salad packs – he refers to its inclusion in such packs as being a “taste-maker that is also visually attractive”. Looking beyond the traditional red radish, Hazera is also introducing new colours, like white. Van Doorn believes that bigger radishes will also be seen in the not too distant future – going up from about 3-4cm in size, to more like 7-8cm. He says: “This adds increased efficiency, so there’s something in it for all parts of the fresh produce supply chain, and eventually for the benefit of the end consumer.”
Meanwhile, Gardiner and G’s don’t plan to take their foot off the pedal when it comes to promoting the product. He says: “Radish is an integral component of the Love the Crunch PR campaign, where for the last three years we have been targeting food influencers with radish, with a view to increasing its use in recipes and food publications.”
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