UK carrot market quiet but looking positive
The UK carrot season is just getting under way with Suffolk carrots and it is going reasonably well,…The UK carrot season is just getting under way with Suffolk carrots and it is going reasonably well, according to Alan Hunt from Freshgro.
"The recent record breaking temperatures don't seem to have affected production at all, but the warm weather is causing a reduced demand. Most people irrigate the carrots and in the areas where we grow there is plenty of water, but there will be a few people in certain areas who may have some problems due to lack of water," explains Alan.
When the weather is warm people tend to stay away from hot meals, a lot of which would include carrots. Alan said they are around 20% down in sales for this time of the year. "But the market is still quite buoyant, and has been for a while. We didn't have to import anything from Europe last year so we have been self sufficient on English carrots."
Freshgro have a wide spectrum of markets including foodservice, retail and wholesale. The company is the biggest grower of Chantenay in England, with 85% of the total production. 50% of the Chantenay are sold in punnets and the rest in bags, they are a standard staple in supermarkets.
"Despite lower demand at the moment, we are still positive about this season. Before we know it it summer will change to autumn, and then autumn to winter and people will start to eat more carrots," says Alan. "We have also updated our Chantenay portfolio with a purple and a white carrot and also do mixed packs, which launched in Lidl last year, called Unicorn for Children."