Crop Report

Tenderstem® broccoli is a firm favourite on menus nationwide. Its versatility makes it especially popular through the summer, whether served simply steamed or used in more creative, flavour forward dishes. Our British growers span the south coast to the world renowned Vale of Evesham, ensuring a consistent supply of fresh, high quality product to meet strong demand.

El Niño is now in place across the tropical Pacific and is forecast to intensify during the second half of the year. 

With Peru currently an important source of avocados, the warmer and more unsettled conditions are already contributing to some quality concerns. Supply levels, however, remain acceptable.

Inbound quality is being monitored closely to try to reduce the potential impact on customers where possible.

Peru continues to be impacted by El Niño conditions, as above-average sea temperatures across the tropical Pacific are creating a less stable and more unpredictable growing climate. For asparagus, this may interrupt crop development and add pressure to spear sizing, yields, quality and wider market supply.

Quality issues have been more evident on some sea-freighted arrivals, so air freight is being used where necessary to reduce journey times, preserve product condition and help maintain availability. 

Even with this added support, the wider market is expected to remain restricted and difficult to manage for the foreseeable future.

Red cabbage availability remains heavily constrained as the stored crop season comes to a close. Current concessions are helping to ease some of the pressure, but supply is still expected to be difficult over the coming weeks.

Recent hot weather has also increased pest pressure. We continue to work hard to limit customer impact by removing affected product wherever possible, although these issues are expected to persist in the near term.

The recent heatwave has disrupted the growing cycle for Isle of Wight tomatoes, with prolonged above-average temperatures reducing yields across all varieties. Yields are currently down by between 30 and 50%, depending on variety, which is putting severe pressure on availability. This is being exacerbated by the additional cooling required to bring product down to the correct temperature.

We expect the cooler conditions towards the end of the week to support a more positive outlook going into next week.

The prolonged hot weather has caused some internal tipping, where small brown patches appear inside the head of iceberg lettuce. This is expected given the current weather conditions, but should improve as temperatures fall.

The quality faults are only present in around 15 to 20% of heads, but affected parts of the lettuce can be removed as part of the normal preparation process in kitchens without affecting the eating quality.

Cucumber availability remains under severe pressure following the recent period of extreme temperatures across Europe. We expect the wider market to stay challenging for around the next two weeks, until cooler weather helps supply to begin to settle.

The crop is currently moving from the end of stored supply into the new season, which is resulting in some expected variation in carrot quality. We are working closely with suppliers to reduce customer impact, and imported product is being used to help keep prepped carrots more consistent during this changeover period.

Colombian passion fruit continues to be limited, with reduced volumes keeping pressure on market availability. Demand remains consistent, so we expect to rely on air-freighted arrivals over the coming weeks to support continuity, improve flexibility and help meet customer requirements where possible.