UK: Sweetcorn, chilli sales driven by 'generation Nandos'
Barfoots is the largest producer of sweetcorn in the UK and supplies 50pc of the nation’s sweet potatoes. The business has recorded a 52pc rise in sales of corn on the cob in the last five years, with consumption per capita doubling in that time, thanks to the popularity of the ubiquitous Portuguese chicken chain.
Barfoots now expects sales to rise to £200m in two years’ time from the £113m it reported last year.
“You don’t know me but you eat my vegetables,” says Peter Barfoot, the company’s 65-year-old founder. “We sell to all the high street retailers and Nandos is our third-biggest customer for the sweetcorn.”
Barfoots also supplies sweet potato wedges to the fast-growing chain, selling 30 tonnes each week.
Now, Barfoots is betting big on another vegetable – the chilli. “It’s because of the Nandos generation,” says Mr Barfoot. “They love hot food just like they love their sweetcorn.
“We now have a one-stop chilli shop,” he continues. “We can produce any variety at any time of year. That’s opened up big opportunities in the marketplace because historically chillies came from all over the world in small, unsustainable amounts.”
A shortage of chillies due to erratic rains in certain growing areas has driven up prices in recent months and Mr Barfoot knows that demand is unlikely to dip. “Chillies are addictive,” he says. “Young people are always looking for the next hottest thing.”
Barfoots is based in the south coast of England near Bognor Regis, which means the company is able to grow vegetables that require a lot of sunshine. “People thought we wouldn’t be able to grow tenderstem [broccoli] in England but we did,” he says. “Now we sell 20 tonnes a week.”
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