Around this time last year, growers in England were dealing with the aftermath of storm Ciaran, heavy rain caused serious flooding and high winds put a stop to harvesting. This year it is a totally different picture as mild temperatures have caused an abundance of produce, but there is a dimmed consumer demand for winter vegetables.
"We have an abundance of cauliflower," said Nigel Clare from Peloton Produce. "The conditions have been very mild; I expect that by Christmas we will be around 25% through our Winter predicted harvest. We have finished our broccoli harvest now and will move onto Spanish supply over the coming days, so with excellent volumes of cauliflower and broccoli it is a totally different year to this time last year."
Nigel admits this is concerning as it may cause a gap in January, but as always it all depends on the weather.
"Kale is also going well, as are Savoy, red and white cabbage. The demand for winter vegetable has been steady, but the mild temperatures don't encourage people to buy into the Brassica category, so we have been very active in promotional activity to try and boost sales. Demand across the board is down between 8-15% down without promotional activity which is a concern, however I am confident a cold snap will change this as we move into the later part of December."
Nigel continues to stress, availability is good as the higher than normal temperatures have meant good yields, red and white cabbage yields have been up by 18%, cauliflower yields are also higher.
"If there was an opportunity to export we would certainly be very keen to export British produce, while the weather is on our side, and the home market demand is subdued"
For more information:
Nigel Clare
Peloton Produce
Tel: +44 1945 780222
[email protected]
www.pelotonproduce.co.uk