This week selected Waitrose stores in the UK launched Chinese sweet sprouting cauliflower from Produce World."At the moment we are doing a small commercial trial, if it is as successful as we expect it to be then we will definitely increase production next year," explains Peter Crowe, from Produce World.
"It's a very robust cauliflower, and is the main type produced in China," explains Peter. "All the shelf life tests give us more than adequate time without deterioration. In fact it has better holding power than traditional cauliflower, as there is less curd and more stem."
The sweet sprouting cauliflower, is as the name suggests, sweeter than traditional cauliflower, more tender and has less of a traditional brassica taste. This and the fact that it is a mini cauliflower with a long stem will hopefully make it more appealing to children, according to Peter."At the moment this is a niche product, but we would like this to be as successful as some other similar innovations over the years such as Chantenay carrots. It will slot in very well with such products as Bellaverde," said Peter.
There seems to be a trend in sprouting vegetables in the UK just now with traditional vegetables being bred to be more 'consumer friendly'. Produce World are meeting the demand for this. "We think that one of the reasons that this product will be popular is because of its sweet tasting stem. This also makes it really easy to prepare. We are in the business of meeting consumer needs, so if we find other sprouting veg that meets these needs then we will definitely be interested in growing them and bringing them to market," concludes Peter.