Produce World celebrates the most organic Christmas ever

The Produce World Group, the UK’s largest grower and supplier of fresh vegetables, is celebrating its most organic Christmas ever, with UK consumers buying more organic vegetables than ever.

Compared to the end of 2013, the volume per buyer (kg) of organic vegetables increased by 6.7 per cent in 2014, with organic Broccoli being the star performer with an increase of 19.9 per cent. Organic carrots have also done well this year with consumer purchases increasing by 5.6 per cent, while all organic root vegetables were up five per cent overall.

This increase in demand for organic vegetables means it promises to be one of the busiest Christmases yet for Produce World who is the biggest supplier of fresh organic vegetables in the UK retail market.

In order to deal with the surge in demand during Christmas, Produce World colleagues will work tirelessly around the clock on double-shifts on the fields and in the factories, from 3am in the morning to 12am at night, to supply millions of people in the UK with their favourite vegetables during the festive period.

In the week before Christmas Produce World will harvest 950,000 kilos of sprouts and distribute five times the amount of parsnips across the UK compared to the average week. Elsewhere demand for King Edward potatoes more than doubles from November to December each year, as people use Produce World potatoes to make their favourite potato dish, whether it’s roast, boiled or mashed.

Not to be outdone by seasonal vegetable favourites, demand for carrots will also remain high during the Christmas period. Each year Produce World grows and supplies 2.5 billion carrots, which is enough for every person in the EU to have five each!

Andrew Burgess, Agricultural Director at Produce World, said: “Christmas is definitely our busiest period, with Produce World colleagues working tirelessly to make sure the UK public get their favourite seasonal veg. However, the recent growth in demand for organic vegetables during 2014 means we will be working harder than ever during the festive period, as we are the biggest suppliers of fresh organic vegetables in the UK retail market. This is great news for people across the UK, with more being able to eat what we consider to be the highest quality veg – a vital part of the traditional Christmas dinner!”