"I would like to see more support for British produce from wholesalers"

"Prices paid to British Growers are down. When imported cucumbers are £3 a box in the wholesale market (No takers) when they are £8 a box like last week our phone rings off the hook" This was a post on Twitter this week by Lea Valley Grower's Association's Lee Stiles, explains the post.

"The point is that UK wholesale markets are not particularly interested in British produce when imported produce is at a low price such as £3 a box, but as soon as there are these spikes in prices, as there has been the last couple of weeks, the enquiries flood in," said Lee.

He goes on to say that you can't run a business based on peaks and troughs, you need continuity, "If you want to back British farming and British produce you need to have a long term view, rather than the short term market price.

There are certain wholesalers and caterers who insist on British produce and they will adapt their prices to their customers accordingly but these kind of relationships are long term.

Normally imported cucumbers are around the same price as British ones, but there are times in the season when the Dutch supply see spikes in production.

Price of British cucumbers has gone down slightly this week, but Lea Valley Growers fix a price for the entire year so everyone can budget accordingly. Most of Lea Valley Association's cucumbers go to the retailers because they need sustainable, consistent orders, and need to know there is an order for them throughout the year.

The British cucumber season is going well, but it had a very slow start with yields down about 30% due to the weather, but then June and July had very good weather and yields were very impressive, 10-20% higher than normal. The season will continue until the end of October - beginning of November but this is very weather dependent.

Its now in the mid 20's, with lots of sunlight, which is good news according to Lee, as margins are so tight that just 1% loss of light can mean 1% less yield.

Demand is always higher than supply for British cucumbers, they only supply 30% of the volume needed.

Lee Stiles
Agent & NFU Secretary, Lea Valley Growers Association.
Tel: +44 1992 625076
Email: Lee_stiles@nfumutual.co.uk