As a result of the rising production costs, a leading Scottish vegetable growers’ co-operative is cutting its production area by more than a quarter this year.
According to managing director at East of Scotland Growers Andrew Faichney, the company, which produces approximately 40 million heads of broccoli and 20 million heads of cauliflower every year, was facing significant production cost increases for the year ahead.
Faichney said: “In a 12-month period we have seen an increase in cost of production which is more than the past 13 years combined.” He said the cost of production for growing broccoli was up by 14%, or £1,350 per hectare, while the cost of production for growing cauliflower was up by 17%, or £1,800 per hectare.
Apart from this, labor costs were up by 11%, while the cost of fertilizer had increased by 112% and the cost of fuel was up by 55%. Other cost increases include a 93% increase in the cost of electricity, a 12% increase in the cost of haulage, and an 83% increase in cardboard costs.
Faichney said these increased costs have resulted in East of Scotland Growers cutting back production by approximately 1,700 acres – equating to 26% – for 2022 and three of the co-operative’s growers have chosen not to grow vegetables this year.
Source: pressandjournal.co.uk
