Waitrose will work with its brassica growers to bring something new to the market and sustain the industry, according to the retailer’s technical manager for agronomy, Alan Wilson.

He said: “The volume market for brassicas is static at the moment, but we are prepared to work with our growers on items like spinach, broccoli and cauliflower to entice people back into the sector.

“There are lots of miniatures that could be introduced and different ways of doing things. We rely on our own growers, who consistently meet our requirements and have growing groups in all the main sectors. We like to describe our relationships with our suppliers as intimate and like to make sure that we are very much in step with what growers are thinking.”

Wilson admitted that growers were not making money out of their relationships with supermarkets, but insisted that Waitrose was different. “From Waitrose’s point of view, it is in our interest that the farms we are trading with make money - we do not want our long-term relationships to end,” he said. “Are we right all of the time? No, but we certainly try to be.”

Topics