Category Archives: HortNews

North-west European potato harvest estimate rises

The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) group has increased its estimate for the region’s potato harvest from its earlier figure published in September. NEPG now estimates the total harvest for the five countries represented (the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands) at 28.9 million tonnes.

Although final yields in the UK are not yet available, and some 10-15 per cent of the Dutch acreage is still to be harvested because of wet weather, NEPG estimates the total crop is 17.7 per cent higher than last year and 15.6 per cent higher than the five-year average. With yield per hectare up in all countries apart from the UK, where the figure is still unknown, the total yield is slightly above that recorded in 2014, which was the largest figure on record.

However, while overall yields are up, variability is high, particularly in France and Belgium. Overall crop quality is described as good, but losses are expected to be above normal levels and some questions remain about the storability of crops harvested in wet conditions. Dry matters are also low in many instances, with many crops of Bintje and Fontane in the Benelux countries being below the specified minimum levels for starch processing.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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World’s smallest tomato introduced in US

At the recent PMA Fresh Summit in New Orleans, it was announced that NatureFresh™ Farms will exclusively grow and market Tomberry® tomatoes from Eminent Seeds NL in Canada, the United States and Mexico from 2018.

“The Tomberry® is unique in size and has caught the interest of our retail partners” explained Matt Quiring, Executive Retail Sales Manager for NatureFresh™ Farms. “The snacking trend in North America has exploded and we continue to search for new items that will help grow our snacking category. This pearl sized fruit’s unique size is something hard to miss and even more difficult to pass by without picking up.  Once a consumer tries them, we are confident that they will be coming back for more. Visually, it is candy to the eyes. From a sensory standpoint, we can back that up.”

“We are pleased to partner with Eminent NL” said Peter Quiring, President and Owner of NatureFresh™ Farms. “This is a perfect fit to complement our TOMZ® snacking category and our brand strategy. We want to grow and market the best tasting tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers and we are excited to offer this for the first time from our Leamington Ontario greenhouse starting next spring. Our research team works hard at identifying these new varieties that taste exceptional, and we look forward to the new opportunities they provide for future consumers.”

Photo Credit: NatureFresh™ Farms

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Thanet Earth completes sixth greenhouse

Kent-based Thanet Earth has competed construction of the sixth greenhouse on its site near Birchington. The new 7ha of glass means that the company will grow nearly a quarter of all the tomatoes grown in the UK, including its exclusive Piccolo variety.

The new block includes high pressure sodium grow lights and a combined heat and power unit. The company claims that in winter, the total of 31 ha of lit UK tomatoes will represent 75 per cent of UK lit production.

Thanet Earth managing director Des Kingsley said, “There’s an enormous uncertainty around the future for imported trade at the moment, and it’s widely acknowledged that the UK has to improve its self-sufficiency in food production. We’re working as hard as we can to add more top-quality home-grown volumes to the market but there’s still a huge gap between the demand for British tomatoes all year round and the available supply volumes.”

The company has also installed sodium grow lights in greenhouse that it is now switching to cucumber production for next year, saying it will be the UK’s first high-wire, light assisted cucumber crop. Overall Thanet Earth has planning permission to construct up to seven greenhouses as part of an estimated £135 million joint-venture with several partners including specialist growers.

Photo Caption: The new greenhouse features high pressure sodium grow lights.

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Supermarket apps are new retail battleground

Mobile data platform Ogury has announced a new study which uses data analysis from mobile phones to show the increasing importance of mobile apps for UK supermarkets.

As expected, Ogury point out that there is a significant difference between the most engaging apps and websites. It says that M&S has the most engaging app, actively engaging with 56 per cent of its users. Aldi comes a close second with 55 per cent of user engagement. Asda comes third with 45 per cent of grocery shoppers with the app engaging with it actively; however the average session duration is higher than the top two products with an average time of 6.5 minutes per visit.

On the other hand, Tesco has the most engaging website. It engages 71% of UK online grocery shoppers – significantly higher than any of the other top UK supermarket websites. However, the Tesco app only engages 36% of its app owners, much less than the most popular supermarket apps.

“It’s clear that both low and high priced sellers are getting good traction online – on apps and on websites,” says Ogury. “M&S comes second after Tesco for website shopping, with 26% of online shoppers visiting M&S’s website for groceries, whilst M&S and Aldi – the two most used shopping apps – clearly represent the two ends of the spectrum (low and high priced goods).”

Photo Caption: Aldi has the second most popular supermarket app.

Photo Credit: Aldi

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Plaguing insects with bittersweet tastes to protect crops

Scientists are developing a new pest control technique which uses their feeding preferences against them.

“Taste-based feeding traps using natural products could be an eco-friendly, cost-efficient and sustainable alternative to synthetic insecticides in the future,” Dr Stefan Pentzold from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, told the EU’s Horizon website.

“Despite their essential role in the insects’ food intake, survival and reproduction, relatively little is known about taste receptors, especially in beetles,” he explained. “This is surprising given their importance as agricultural and forestry pests, their global distribution and huge species numbers as herbivorous insects.” Insects use hairs on their legs, as well as mouthparts and antennae to taste their food before eating, allowing them to sense the chemical signature of their preferred plants. However, some insects have internal taste organs or use smell to find their food.

Israel-based company EdenShield is developing a green alternative to pesticides based on extracts of the native plant lavender cotton (Achillea fragrantissima) which is found in the Judaean Desert. The company hopes that this natural insect repellent will help grower protect crops against greenhouse pests such as whitefly and thrips. They are developing Gatekeeper, a spray product containing natural plant extracts, with help from EU funding.

Photo Caption: Achillea fragrantissima

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Waitrose expands recipe box trial

Following a successful trial, Waitrose is extending the roll-out of its Cook Well from Waitrose recipe box scheme.

The retailer says that its chefs and nutritionists have worked together to develop easy to prepare meals that are nutritionally balanced, with no red traffic lights for saturated fat, sugar and salt. Each meal also provides at least one of the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

The service has been created in conjunction with tech consultancy ThoughtWorks and has both one-off and weekly subscription customers. Boxes contain pre-portioned, bagged ingredients for easy storage and minimal waste and step-by-step recipe cards, and are delivered to customers’ homes free of charge.

Archie Mason, Head of Business Development at the John Lewis Partnership commented, “Waitrose was the first supermarket to develop a recipe box scheme which went live in March this year to selected customers. We have been greatly encouraged by the initial response with customers. We have taken their feedback on board, adding more delicious healthy recipes this month along with an additional delivery day and from October, the option to order a box for a family of four.

Photo Credit: Waitrose

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New CEO for HM. Clause

HM.Clause has announced the appointment of Rémi Bastien as its new Chief Executive Officer, from the beginning of September 1. In his role, Mr. Bastien will also serve as chair of the company’s Global Strategy Team, the governing body that is responsible for crafting and executing the company’s long term roadmap. He will be Portes-les-Valence in France and will split his time between France and the firm’s US headquarters in Davis, California.

Mr. Bastien comes to HM.Clause from Limagrain Europe, where he was CEO, while also serving as President of the Union Française des Semenciers (UFS) maize section. Before that he was the Regional Director of Europe and Africa for Mérieux Nutrisciences, a company that specializes in food safety and quality. He has also worked for Monsanto and Pioneer Seeds.

“I see great value in this cooperative approach to governance because it promotes a culture of partnership, which in turn emphasizes collaboration and teamwork throughout the company,” said Mr Bastien. “I am thrilled to be taking the helm as CEO of HM.Clause, a company that I believe stands out in the competitive landscape as one of the most respected and trusted in the industry.”

 Photo Caption: Rémi Bastien will be based at HM Clause’s offices at Portes-les-Valence.

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Are dogs the future of pest detection?

Large Canadian greenhouse grower NatureFresh™ Farms has adopted a novel approach to pest management: using a Belgian Shepherd dog named Chili to identify the first signs of infestation.

The move came following an outbreak of Pepper Weevil (Anthonomus eugenii) in the autumn of 2016. Due to the nature of the pest, it cannot be spotted by humans and, once an outbreak is established, no available biological control methods are capable of controlling the pest.

Cam Lyons, Research and Development and IPM Technician comments, “Dogs are a very intelligent animal. Many worker dogs are trained to recognize and discover scents associated with drugs or bombs, so it seemed possible to train a dog to recognize pepper weevil.”

After research, the company adopted 15-month old Chili who underwent 8 weeks of training before being certified by The American Working Dog Association. This certification allows Chili to work in the farm without any food safety concerns. When Chili detects the scent of Pepper Weevil she will sit and stare at the location of the pest.

Peter Quiring, NatureFresh™ Farms Owner and CEO, added, “In order to continue to grow it is essential to develop new strategies and look beyond conventional methods. We encourage our team to think outside the box and test any ideas they may have; no idea is considered too crazy.”

Photo Caption: Cam Lyons, IPM scout and dog handler Tina Heide, and Chili.

Photo Credit: NatureFresh Farms

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Scottish growers depend on migrants

A television documentary has helped the Scottish soft fruit industry highlight the importance of migrant labour.

The episode of the BBC documentary Landward visited Sylvia and James Clarke who grow 100 acres of fruit and vegetables in polytunnels at Wester Hardmuir near Nairn, as well as large fruit grower Ross Mitchell from Castleton Farm near Laurencekirk in Angus. The Clarkes employ some 20 students a year from countries including Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia, while Castleton Farm needs around 600 seasonal workers every year.

The programme followed a roundtable meeting in Edinburgh organised by the Migration Advisory Committee. Following the meeting, NFU Scotland horticulture committee chairman James Porter, who grows soft fruit as part of a mixed farming enterprise at East Scryne, said, “Access to workers remains a key priority, particularly for some very successful parts of our industry that are overwhelmingly dependent on non-UK harvest labour. For our soft fruit and vegetable sectors, there must be mechanisms put in place to allow access to those workers next year and ensure workers will be able to come to Scotland post-Brexit, in spring 2019.”

“This year, there has been a shortage of between 10 and 20% of seasonal workers coming from the EU – partly because of exchange rates, but also because of increasing affluence in other parts of the EU. This will get worse year on year.”

Photo Credit: PxHere

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Morrisons’ veg boxes proving popular

Supermarket Morrisons has launched two new value veg boxes, one priced at £3 (although it was launched at a promotional price of just £1) and a larger one at £5. The smaller box is available online, with the larger one in stores.

Morrisons vegetable buyer Andy Todd said, “We’ve listened to our customers who told us they want even more affordable veg. They are a great way for our customers to buy British or eat seasonally or feed the family for the week.” The retailer says the £5 box contains enough vegetables to feed a family of four for four or five days. The seasonal products include items such as carrots, courgettes, onions, potatoes, cauliflower, with many lines being slightly misshapen or out of specification for other products. Produce is currently sourced from up to 60 British growers, but the retailer said that the new line would not be exclusively British in origin.

Photo Credit: Morrisons

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