Prepared salad supplier Hazeldene opened its second round of lettuce trials in the UK to its customers and growers last week in Lathom, Lancashire, as part of the company’s Plant to Plate strategy that aims to “put more flavour on the plate”.
The trials comprised more than 150 different varieties of wholehead, multileaf and baby leaf lettuce, as well as herbs, cresses and oriental leaf varieties.
Simon Ball, managing director of Hazeldene, told freshinfo: “This is a great opportunity for customers like The Co-operative and Wagamama, as well as our growers, to see how these different varieties should look and taste.
“We learn an awful lot through the trials about how the different varieties grow and whether they will work on a commercial scale. Getting the customers out into the field is crucial, as they can see the different leaf types available and get an idea of what they can do with them.”
Ball believes that multileaf varieties will become very important to the lettuce industry in the future, particularly on the prepared side.
“Multileaf could potentially replace traditional lettuces such as red oak, lollo rosso and cos, because growers are starting to process multileaf in the field as it is so easy to prepare,” he said. “All of the leaves are the same size and there is no large central core to remove. It saves time in the factory and labour costs.”
Many of Tozer Seeds’ varieties were used in the Hazeldene trial and UK sales manager for the company, David Rogers, said that bagged salads had experienced a plateau over the last five years. “It has become more about price and, over the years, we have lost the production of some lettuces and leaves,” he said. “Bags have become more bland and have lost that heat and texture. We are looking at producing more tasty rockets, chard, spinach and coriander to put some of that taste back.”
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