Broccoli head from Spain priced 20p in supermarket.

[gbb]

There's also how the businesses are integrated and support each other. Ultimately, the fruit we pack is grown by the same company we work for, same with flowers. There's no middle men, its controlled from the farm to the supermarket by one company, Spanish. The farms have a guaranteed and reliable outlet, the packers have a guaranteed and reliable source, its very simple, very clever and very very large. A company thats spent £20 million on our factory 5 years ago, £30 million on one 15 miles away 2 years ago and is now spending over £40 million on another near ours shows how much money is in the business. Most if not all the independent packhouses have gone, economy of scale, bigger is better, the volume of product that goes through these places is immense, with that comes cheaper production costs.
Its not better of course, its sweeping everything aside, but again, for better or worse, thats the reality.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Hey @Pat "5mph"
Have you tried 'roasting' your garden grown PSB?

Massage some nice olive or sesame or whatever oil into whole florets with a bit of salt, then roast in the oven like you do with other veg .
It goes all sweet and crunchy but also chewy .

Don't know if it would work with Spanish broccoli /calabrese..

PSB is still one of my spring favourites , my grandpa grew lots of it, on his allotment, and I'd just go out and graze on it raw, like a strange goat /child hybrid...

Never got any less odder over the years ...

My dad grew white sprouting broccoli but wondered why it was always a much poorer crop than the purple - I knew why, I and my cousins used to eat it raw ...
And yes, roasted calabrese, especially brushed with a bit of virgin olive or a nut oil, is a delicious way to eat it. To save on oven usage, I'll par-steam/par-boil/par-nuke it then shake about in oil and a bit of salt, and stick it under the grill for a bit - almost as good and a great deal quicker and usually more economical than using the oven.

 

[gbb]

Then theres the efficiencies that have grown within these companies, reducing either short term or long term cost.
At the moment, 'residency' or the time fruit spent within the building is very low. Often stuff is packed on the day its unloaded from Spain, and on its way out to depot sometimes the same day. The need for large storage areas and incredibly expensive refrigeration is massively reduced, result, a cheaper product.
These mega buildings you see nowadays, ours was opened 5 years ago to serve a (you could say the) high end supermarket chain....with the intention of getting other business moving forward.
Now we supply that supermarket, 2 online retailers, 2 other household name supermarkets, all from one factory, and it will march inexorably on. Economy of scale, all this reduces cost.
The list goes on and on, its a completely different industry to 20 years ago.

 

[newfhouse]

All very true and more so.

What I'd like to know is how come you can say all this .

But if I did it would be all too political and very much 'not allowed'

Funny old world innit.. ??

Pointing and looking is fine. Calling for change, not so much.

 

[mudsticks]

Pointing and looking is fine. Calling for change, not so much.

Yes I know dear

We must be compliant and accepting, not question anything, it's for the best in the long run..

Until it isn't..

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Thank you so much @gbb for the info, that was exactly what I wanted to know.

Pointing and looking is fine. Calling for change, not so much.

Yes I know dear

We must be compliant and accepting, not question anything, it's for the best in the long run..

Until it isn't..

You can call for a change, over in NACA.
"We must, etc." is irrelevant here: I asked the questions because I don't know much about industrial veg growing.
I was interested in the economics and in the nutritional value of the product.
Certainly, the taste of my home grown is better, fresher for a start, but that was a given.
I won't be buying similar again: @gbb's description of the sterile fields covered in plastic is now with me forever.
I feel bad enough when I use plastic in my own veg growing, at least I reuse it next season.
@gbb when you say you now supply a high end supermarket chain, do you mean it's the same broccoli just priced more at the consumer end?
I remember years ago going to a fish training course for a major supermarket. The fish factory in Grimsby was packing the same product for different outlets, different labels, different prices, same fish.
Is it the same for veg?


@mudsticks if you open a socio/economic/political thread over in NACA about the cheapness (or not) of food, I'll contribute with my views, let me know on here because I don't read that forum often, I need to make myself a log in first

 

[gbb]

Its complicated Pat. Different retailers all want the best but dont neccessarily want to pay the premium. The premium isnt soley based on the product, there is some crossover occasionally but generally, specific fruit, sizes, quality, variety is brought to meet specific retailers specs. Specifications are written in stone, very little deviation is allowed. The company will have different teams, commercial, technical etc for different customers. Specifications are rigid but quality may vary, some defect acceptable for one customer...definately not for another.
Where a high end retailer may differ from a 'budget' one is not soley the product you supply but also the conditions you supply from, workplace standards (this is a huge thing in itself, cleaning standards, toilets, canteen facilities etc etc etc), ethical sourcing, environmental policies, the companies policy on modern slavery, do you have support for staff, a high end customer demands all these are met, its their name at risk if it all goes wrong. The more elevated the retailer, the higher the standards. The retailer has to pay for those standards to be met so inevitably, the cost is higher.
It seems to me the system now is its joined up top to bottom, retailer to farm. The grower knows exactly whats expected, cannot deviate too much. The packer recieves pretty much exactly whats required, theres normally minimal waste bacause the product recieved already meets spec, turnaround is very fast, waste minimised, profit maximised.. The retailer and supplier work very closely, everyone benefits.

But volume is the driver, packing 20 boxes of this, 200 boxes of that doesnt make money, its thousands of boxes per order, long runs are the real key.

This is in stark contrast go a former company 20 years ago. They would buy a crop and make it fit the customers requirements. They would over buy because they didnt work with the retailer so closely so there could be lots and lots of waste, more cost. Equally, if other suppliers ran short at the end of a season, our company had fruit, albeit a bit aged, available. It was a lottery, sometimes they reaped huge profits, sometimes lost. Sometimes theyd hit the growers financially if the crop didnt hold up, sometimes hit the shippers if it wasnt stored correctly and arrived below par, it was a dog eat dog kind of thing

 

[Stephenite]

Here, in the supermarket in Norway. A head of broccoli from Spain costs £1.60 !

 

[FishFright]

Just don't mention the CAP.

Oh you and your rose tinted spectacles

 

[mudsticks]

Thank you so much @gbb for the info, that was exactly what I wanted to know.

You can call for a change, over in NACA.
"We must, etc." is irrelevant here: I asked the questions because I don't know much about industrial veg growing.
I was interested in the economics and in the nutritional value of the product.
Certainly, the taste of my home grown is better, fresher for a start, but that was a given.
I won't be buying similar again: @gbb's description of the sterile fields covered in plastic is now with me forever.
I feel bad enough when I use plastic in my own veg growing, at least I reuse it next season.
@gbb when you say you now supply a high end supermarket chain, do you mean it's the same broccoli just priced more at the consumer end?
I remember years ago going to a fish training course for a major supermarket. The fish factory in Grimsby was packing the same product for different outlets, different labels, different prices, same fish.
Is it the same for veg?


@mudsticks if you open a socio/economic/political thread over in NACA about the cheapness (or not) of food, I'll contribute with my views, let me know on here because I don't read that forum often, I need to make myself a log in first

OK, will give you a shout (here) if such a thread arises @Pat "5mph"

'The food system'

The how's and whys and realities of 'cheapness' and the 'true cost' of it all is a fiendishly complicated subject, it already exercises many a mind..

From farm to fork

Having been involved in both the practical and political aspects of it all for decades it's good to see more people waking up to some of the realities though - knowledge is power etc etc.

Pretty sure that cut price broccoli wouldn't do you personally so much harm.

But as gbb has outlined there are reasons for it being so very 'cheap' - someone or something somewhere else has paid a hidden price already.

Meanwhile I'd better go grow some more - - to be sold at a fair price of course

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Because it tastes disgusting and no one wants to buy it.

 

[Alex321]

Because it tastes disgusting and no one wants to buy it.

The first is your personal opinion, and we all have different tastes.

The second is clearly false. If no one wanted to buy iy, then it simply wouldn't be in the supermarkets. They aren't in the business of selling things nobody wants to buy.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The first is your personal opinion,

Scientifically proven

 

[icowden]

Here, in the supermarket in Norway. A head of broccoli from Spain costs £1.60 !

Yeah - Norway has this weird policy of ensuring that Norwegian farmers produce is cheaper than imported thus protecting their farmers. Those Norwegians and their crazy ideas!!!

 

[matticus]

Yeah - Norway has this weird policy of ensuring that Norwegian farmers produce is cheaper than imported thus protecting their farmers. Those Norwegians and their crazy ideas!!!

I don't claim to know who invented it, but that idea has been around quite a long time!